Day after Day
by Kaponos
Summary: "Things were at a good pace with Akko right now; it started with warmer smiles and eye contact a few seconds longer than was necessary. Then it was standing a bit closer, gently linking their fingers together. Sometimes, if she was particularly brave, they would part ways with a gentle kiss on Akko's forehead." In which Sucy continues to let it happen.
1. Sucy has a dream

**_A/N: And I return for more gay. Welcome back everyone! This will be a continuation of my last fic; where in which Sucy, ever the clueless sap she is, struggles to come to terms with just how deep her love goes. This too will be a multi chapter story._**

 ** _Reviews are appreciated! Tell me what you liked, tell me what to work on for the next chapter!_**

 _ **I hope you enjoy.**_

* * *

 _A busy kitchen, the sound of sizzling food, beams of white light filling the room with warmth. A head of brown hair at the stove, bright red eyes twinkling in the morning sun. She walked slowly up behind the figure; circling her arms around their waist, lips finding their place on the person's jugular. "_ _Mmm_ _morning." The figure, a woman, breathed; closing her eyes in bliss. She turned the woman's chin towards her, breathing out a greeting as their lips connected. "Morning_ _Akko_ _."_

Sucy jolted awake, eyes darting around wildly to take in her surroundings. The same homely wood ceiling, the same cream paint. _'Dormroom.'_ The orange light of a summer sunrise peaked in through closed curtains, making itself known against the hardwood. It was morning. She had been sleeping. It was a dream.

The violet witch sighed, reaching up a pale arm to cover her eyes and hide her blush. She had been having these dreams for weeks now. Always different, but carrying the same theme.

Akko and her, sharing a life together.

It was all too much for the alchemist at this point: she wasn't ready for that yet, wasn't ready for the commitment, the expectations, the intimacy. ' _I've barely started to understand how it feels to be in love. I just need it to be slow.'_

Things were at a good pace with Akko right now; it started with warmer smiles and eye contact a few seconds longer than was necessary. Then it was standing a bit closer, gently linking their fingers together. Sometimes, if she was particularly brave, they would part ways with a gentle kiss on Akko's forehead.

She turned over in her bed, facing the object of her affections with a loving smile. Akko was still sleeping, blankets pulled down around her hips, a hand under her shirt to lay over her naval. Her mouth was open, letting out unattractive animal growls as she snored. _'You're in love with this.'_ Sucy huffed a laugh, eyes closed, widening her lips into warm grin. "I guess I am." she whispered to no one in particular.

Sucy stayed awake from then until the alarm rang, silently watching her love dream. There wouldn't be any more sleeping, lest she have another amazing dream and wake up a red mess.

Lotte shifted from her top bunk as the buzzer shouted loudly in the small dorm. The mousey girl yawned, grasping blindly for her glasses; situating them on her nose with the help of a friendly spirit. "Morning."

"Morning." Sucy parroted, not taking her eyes of the snoring brunette. Akko had turned in her sleep, arms wrapped around herself in a hug, facing Sucy with a serene smile across her face. "How long have you been awake?" The ginger climbed down from her bunk, giving a light shake to Akko's shoulder as she passed; though the girl remained still.

"A few minutes before the alarm." The alchemist lied, sitting up on her mattress, finally tearing her eyes away from the slumbering witch to look out at the beginnings of a sunny day. Oranges had slowly faded into light icy blues as the sun creeped higher into the sky, wispy tufts of cloud stretching across the viewable expanse.

Reaching up to the ceiling, Sucy yawned, sitting up on her knees and bending back slowly over her calves until her head was in line with the tips of her toes. Pulling herself back up, the purple haired girl bent her spine forward, curling her head in towards her chest and sighing in relief.  
Yoga was something Sucy practiced often in the mornings, much to Akko's delight. Sleeping on such soft mattresses had a tightening effect on Sucy's spine; she would be grumpy all day if she didn't decompress early.

The alchemist quite liked the idea of the two of them stretching together, but trying to get the brunette into any poses proved futile; the girl was stiff as a board and often too flustered to get her breathing under control. ' _Maybe I can make a potion for that...'_

"Akko, come on, it's time to get up." As Lotte struggled to wake the sleeping bear that was their friend, Sucy uncurled, walking over to the desk, perusing labels stuck to the bubbling venoms. "Go take your shower Lotte, Akko will be up soon." Picking up a bright pink vial, the witch knelt down in front of Akko, observing her features for a moment. Unceremoniously uncapping the poison with a thumb, Sucy held the vial just under the girl's nose, goading a reaction. Lotte yelped, escaping out of the room before she became accomplice to Sucy's crimes.

The vile fumes ripped through Atsuko's nose like wildfire, yanking the girl forcefully from whatever dream world she resided in. "Su-Ack!" A harsh cough racked through her, body rejecting the toxins violently. "Sucy! Are you trying to kill me?" The violent haired witch cackled, placing a gentle hand on the back of Akko's head, running her fingers through the tangles. "Why would I want to kill you? You're far too important to me for that."  
Akko's cheeks puffed out, scowling despite the pink spreading across her face. Sucy's smile warmed, and she stood, trailing her fingers down across her shoulder before letting go. "It's time to get ready for class, I had to do something." Picking up her hairbrush, Sucy drew a circle in the air. "Turn around, that hair is like a bird's nest."

Gathering bundles of the chocolate hair into her grip, Sucy set out, meticulously removing each tangle with purposeful strokes of the brush. "You seemed to be having a good sleep." She observed. "We've been trying to get you up for ages." Akko attempted to turn her head to look at Sucy defensively, failing and earning a tug to her roots instead. "Ow! It wasn't that long! And I was dreaming of flying for your information." It was a wonderful dream: Soaring above the world on a broom all by her own power, Sucy's arms wrapped around her waist like always. "What about you? Did you dream anything nice?"

Sucy halted her strokes, nervously fiddling with the brown locks. "I can't really remember. It was nice though." It didn't feel good withholding information from Akko, but knowing about the dreams would only make their slow progress more unbearable.  
"Done. Now you look less like you just rolled out of hibernation." Sucy dropped the brush down on the sheets, watching as Akko ran her fingers through her hair a few times. "Thank you Sucy!" The alchemist stiffened at the feeling of lips against her cheek. Akko was slightly pink as she pulled away, standing up and beginning to gather her uniform.

Sucy tried her hardest to fight the burning red creeping up her neck, holding a hand to her cheek where the brunette's lips had been moments before. Flashes of her dream played back in her mind, but she pushed it away.  
 _'This pace is good enough. I'm just letting it happen. That may well happen some day, but not for a while.'_

She hoped Akko's patience could hold out until then.

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 ** _A/N: And another thousand ish words of fluff out of my brain hole. Unlike with the last fic, I don't 100% know how this whole thing will be structured, so I'm taking my own advice here and just letting it happen however it goes. At the suggestion of a reviewer I'm experimenting with spacing out my paragraphs to make it easier to read. Feedback on that would be appreciated!_**

 ** _Updates will probably be 3 or 4 days in between? I will write in between my failed attempts at Ornstein and Smough. (Sidenote: Duo bosses in Dark Souls are always the hardest ones.)_**

 ** _I thank you all for supporting my works! Tell me how I did!_**


	2. Akko's guilt

**_A/N: Welcome back friends! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. (Once I figured out where I wanted it to start that is.) And after a bit of perusing through shippy fanart, I have an idea of where I'm going with the next chapter! So if all goes well with my brainhole the next chapter should be a bit quicker than this one._**

 ** _ThatFanFicGuy: Good to see! I shall space all works for here on out like that. Thank you so much! Fluff is my specialty. And yes indeed,Sucy tries to act a bit more subtle when they are around friends, Akko less so. It will be fun imagining how each of the girls responds to their little love story._**

 ** _Hah yes, the Gargoyles and the Super Londo Bros gave me trouble for the same reasons, namely a lack of openings to attack safely. I did end up beating them though! After hours of failure I yelled very very loud in triumph. My most recent kill is Artorias, poor wolf son. It was a very enjoyable battle full of clear tells and tons of dodging._**

 ** _Complex individuals you and me, friend. Death, misery and failure one minute; squealing at fluffy gay the other. Thank you for your review!_**

 ** _NotThatBarnable: Thank you very much my friend! I love slow burn fics more than anything, mainly for that mid period between simple friendship and full relationship where they are very affectionate and comfortable enough with eachother to do coupley things without being one. Bonus points if someone assumes they're in a relationship and they just play along. I will try my hardest to give a steady supply of fluff to you all! o7_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy this chapter! Tell me what you liked! Tell me what I can work on for the next chapter!_**

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Despite struggling initially to wake Akko from her slumber, the girls left their dorm with more than enough time. An overhanging rumble of collective voices filled the school, not the roar of the between class rush, but still enough for individual conversations to be lost to the air. The halls wouldn't be a bustling mess for a few minutes or so, and it was rather easy to spot their friends fooling around.

Amanda sat lazily on the windowsill, watching Constanze's robot fling popcorn into Jasminka's mouth. Catching the Red Team out of the corner of her eye, she stood and shouted out down the hall. "Akko!"

Atsuko beamed, uncurling her fingers from Sucy to wave at their friends. Amanda noticed this, but decided not to bring it to attention. Although the girls had been more affectionate lately, it wasn't her position to pry... yet.

If they started making out in the hallways, that would be another story.

"Oi, Sucy, we have that quiz in history yea?" The mushroom queen blinked and fished around in her arm of books for a sheet of paper. "Notes. Give them back when you're done." Amanda snatched the paper quickly, absorbing all the information into her short term memory.

Her eye shifted off the paper for a second to see a true rarity. Sucy was smiling. Not that evil, sharklike grin when her schemes paid off; this was an honest to goodness _smile_ , directed towards Akko whom she was quietly chatting with.

Amanda sidestepped over to Lotte, elbowing the shorter ginger lightly. "Has Sucy overdosed on some weird shroom?" She whispered. "She's being helpful, and _smiling_. That's weird right?"

Lotte fidgeted, unsure of how much to say. Sucy and Akko were indeed closer than ever since that night. Akko stumbled into their dormroom, red as a beet, and then proceeded to yell in her face excitedly about their purple friend.

Sucy wouldn't like it if she spilled too much; the witch was very 'keep to herself'. Ruining her good mood wasn't an appealing proposition.

"She's just in a better mood recently, I wouldn't call that weird." She tried. "Everyone has better days."

 _'And those days will just keep getting better if this pace keeps_.' Lotte was incredibly happy for her friends, if her information was correct. Sucy was kinder, more outgoing and clearly happier; Akko's bright smiles were even brighter than before, rivaling the light of the sun. _'True lovers, enriching eachother's lives... Just like Belle and Edgar.'_ She swooned internally.

Amanda's eyes narrowed, but she waved a hand in the air and turned back to reading. "Not my business. If she's turned into a saint suddenly, better make the most of it."

The two witches in question were sitting on a separate windowsill; Sucy taking Amanda's role in watching the food catching, Akko resting quietly on her shoulder. "Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" Sucy's eyebrows furrowed; Akko had been taking her classes more seriously lately, though often at a cost to her sleep schedule. "You told me you were just finishing up when I said goodnight."

Akko looked up at her guiltily, light from the rising sun catching in her ruby eyes. "I may have stayed awake for a bit longer." Sucy's frown deepened. "How long?" The brunette slumped back on Sucy's shoulder, giving into her harsh gaze. "Two hours."

Sucy closed her eyes and took a heavy breath. "You're such an idiot."

"As soon as lunch comes around, you're taking a nap." She spoke with finality and power; a tone normally alien to the witch. Atsuko knew there was no changing her mind, so she closed her eyes for the remaining precious minutes of peace. "You make a nice pillow." The sleepy brunette murmured.

Sucy smiled, reaching up to gently rub Akko on the head, a small tint of red on her pale cheeks. "I'm sure I do. Now shut up and rest."

It wasn't long before the river of students began to pick up speed; the roar of voices like rapids flowing past them as witches, teachers, and staff rushed by to whatever class marked their destination.

Sucy stood, hooking her hand around Akko's tightly, lest they get separated in the bustle. Well that was the excuse she fabricated in her head; truly the alchemist just enjoyed feeling Akko's palm against hers, their fingers locked around eachother. It made the brunette happy as well; each time Sucy would initiate contact or acted overtly affectionate reminded her that their feelings were very mutual, and she didn't dream it all up.

Akko walked in step behind Sucy as the witch pulled her along through the crowds, Lotte at her back, wading through the hall with them. She stared at the back of Sucy's head, thinking back to Sucy's expression as they sat on the windowsill. ' _The same person who regularly feeds you poisons is concerned for your health._ ' The way Sucy could flip back and forth between doting girlfriend and mischievous imp was a sight to behold.

She knew Sucy wanted to take it slow, remembering the pink across her friend's cheeks as they discussed the subject a month ago. Sucy cared about her, loved her even, but she had to wait until Sucy was ready.

"Akko, too far." Sucy's hand on hers tugged gently. She had nearly walked past the class door in her daze. The alchemist's smile was patient, though a few sharp teeth showed through. "Just try your best okay? I have a potion with me to help you sleep later."

Atsuko wasn't a patient girl, but if Sucy continued being so affectionate and caring, she would be content as things were.

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 _ **A/N: And that's that! Plotwise (If there's actually any plot in this.) Nothing really happened. But we had a look at how Amanda and Lotte see their friends' growing relationship, as well as seeing some of that rare Sucy genuine concern. Akko really pushes herself in pursuit of becoming like Chariot, perhaps too far. A teenage girl needs her sleep after all, and if Akko isn't going to take care of herself, by Yggdrasil Sucy will. I quite like the flip flop Sucy has between being Akko's tormentor and being her caretaker, and I hope I can express that through my story.**_

 _ **Thank you all for reading this chapter. Tell me how I did!**_


	3. People ask questions

_**A/N: Okay maybe not faster this time. Sorry. orz My sense of direction with this chapter sort of vanished mid way through. I ultimately did have quite a bit of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you will have fun reading it!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: I agree entirely friend! My hope is to inspire this tiny subsection of the fandom to mobilize and create fics of their own! Thank you very much for your kind review!**_

 _ **Kagari: Thank you very much friend! And yes I think in her rush to be the best, Akko forgets herself sometimes. There are many instances in the anime and movies of Akko passing out facefirst in her homework, or giving herself more work than could possibly be handled by just her.**_

 _ **BetwixtOni: Thank you so much! I hope this steady stream of fluff will sustain you!**_

 _ **Enjoy friends! Tell me what you liked, Tell me what to work on for next time!**_

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15 minutes into class was all it took for Akko to begin to feel the weight of her exhaustion. It was getting harder by the minute to comprehend what Professor Badcock was saying, numbers and words mixing slightly. Only the gentle touch of Sucy, holding her hand under the desk, stroking her knuckles in a constant pattern, anchored her to reality.

Akko looked down at her notes, a meandering scrawl of trailing scratches, followed by short bursts of clarity that burnt out shortly after. She huffed, angry with herself for the lack of focus.

Lotte saw the frustration on her friend's face and elbowed her, gesturing to her notes with a warm smile. _'You can use mine later.'_ Were the unspoken words. The brunette smiled in thanks, though still felt that frustration at her hazy state. _'I bet Chariot never fell asleep in class.'_

A gentle squeeze to her hand brought her attention to Sucy, who's eye was questioning and concerned. ' _Everything okay?'_

She squeezed back, brightening her tired face into a smile. ' _As long as I have you two, I'm always okay.'_

Though the concern didn't fade, Sucy was placated by that answer; changing her pattern of loving circles to a slight back and forth motion above Akko's knee. The electric sensation shook her from her sleepy daze, acutely aware of every motion Sucy's fingers made on her thigh. That focus was not utilized to complete her notes sadly, as the alchemist's touch slowly lulled Akko into a trance, Magic Numerology forgotten entirely.

Sucy huffed a light laugh through her nose, watching the girl drift into a daydream. It was baffling that her touch could have this sort of effect on anyone, let alone Akko; the uncontrollable rodent she was.

Her mind shifted back to last night's dream; how Akko had melted into her arms, how breathy her voice was, the way her neck craned like a silent plea.

She could still feel the pulse of Akko's heart under her lips.

Sucy swallowed, throat suddenly feeling dry. ' _Oh boy.'_

Surviving the rest of class proved easy enough once Sucy realized just how focused the rest of the class was. She was free to burn red without comment from those around her, except maybe Lotte. But Lotte had too have known already, so she didn't count.

Tugging a very sleepy Akko along by the hand through the bustling halls, Sucy consulted her mental map of the school. "Professor Pisces' room was two lefts, right?" She squeezed the brunette's fingers to get her attention when she didn't respond right away.

Akko shook herself out of her haze, looking off to the side thoughtfully as she was guided. "Uh, yeah. then a right. Second door." She didn't usually walk Atsuko to her classes, so the path was fuzzy in her head. It all felt very... girlfriendy of her.

The thought made her anxious.

Once Professor Pisces' room was in sight, Sucy turned to the witch in her grasp, looking down at their connected hands for a moment. Letting go, the alchemist put her other arm around her books, almost hugging them for stability.

"This class shouldn't be too much work, but uh.." She shuffled on the spot, concern shrouding her lidded ruby eye.

Sucy butted her head lightly against Akko's, pressing their foreheads together and taking a deep breath. "Stay out of trouble yeah? Try to stay seated, in case you trip and hit your head." Though both of their eyes were closed, she knew Akko could hear her tiny toothy grin. "Klutz."

She heard Akko giggle and felt the nod against her, exhaling as their noses brushed slightly. "I'll pick you up after class, so try to stay awake until then."

Sucy felt many pairs of eyes on them as they parted, but saved her icy glares until after Akko had waved goodbye and entered the classroom.

"What are you looking at?" She growled, making sure to show her rows of shark teeth.

The students scampered away, tails between their legs, as Sucy stomped down the hall towards the history room.

"There you are Ms. Manbaveran, we are just about to get started. Please take a seat." Sucy wandered into the room, eyeing the room for Amanda so she could retrieve her notes. She found an empty seat nearby to Amanda, pushing on her leg with a foot to rouse the energetic redhead from her relaxed position. "Oi! Who the hell-" Her flare of anger died quickly upon seeing Sucy's nonplussed face. "Oh it's just you, Sucy. Why so late? Escorting your girlfriend to class?" Sucy frowned, kicking Amanda again for teasing her. "Notes."

"Ow! Yeah, yeah, they're right here- Ow! Stop being hostile!" Reaching back into her bag she fished around, muttering under her breath. "I thought you were in a good mood today."

The alchemist rolled her eyes, bringing the notes back to her seat for a refresher.

"You have a girlfriend Sucy?" Blair leaned over the desk behind her, green eyes shining in genuine curiosity. Sucy glared across at Amanda, who shrugged with a shit-eating grin on her face. _'I swear I will paralyze you and leave you to the crows.'_

"Is she in our year? Ooh its probably-"

"Quiet down ladies, dividers up." Blair deflated, unable to finish her sentence. "You have thirty minutes to complete this quiz." The history teacher began coming around with a stack of quiz sheets, "Two parts: multiple choice and short answer. Short answers must be clearly legible, or they will be marked as incorrect." For once Sucy felt a huge amount of appreciation for a teacher that wasn't Lukic, having been saved from responding to the blonde's interrogation.

Sucy caught sight of Amanda and Constanze a row up, who were gesturing to her, finger to thumb. The poison master rubbed her brow, huffing a laugh in spite of herself. ' _Why are my friends so insufferable?'_

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 _ **A/N: Face it Sucy you like their antics.**_

 _ **I had a lot of cute ideas for this chapter and had a lot of fun including them, I hope you find them life sustaining!**_

 _ **The headbutt, forehead touch thing is a two fer one; both a Sucy-esque mix of harm and care, as well as an old Pacific Islander greeting and form of affection known as Hongi or Honi (kiss). Being pressed together at the forehead or bridge of the nose and breathing is known as exchanging the "Breath of Life" or "Ha" and is a very special form of greeting. Though neither of our lovers are specifically Pacific Islanders I wanted to infuse a bit of my culture into the story and add a very cute yet subtle little moment.**_

 ** _Sucy isn't so much embarrassed by her feelings, as much as she doesn't want to really think about them. Let's face it, people are curious and want to ask questions. Sucy doesn't particularly know any answers to the inevitable questions they will ask, and so chooses to avoid such a situation at all costs._**

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this chapter friends! Tell me how I did!**_


	4. No answers needed

_**A/N: Welcome back friends! Today Akko finally gets some damn sleep. This right here my friends is the fluff that makes me fuckign die. (figuratively) I was looking forward to this and by Yggdrasil it was fun to write. (Though my looming overhead sense of inadequacy made it hard at points. I should work on fixing that.) I pray that the fluff sustains!**_

 _ **NotSoBarnable: Thank you so much friend, your kind words mean a lot to me. I will write my hardest! o7**_

 _ **Reviews are appreciated! Tell me what you liked! Tell me what to work on for next time!**_

* * *

Little over half an hour after the sun passed its highest peak among the clouds a sharp ring echoed through the school, signaling the end of second block and the beginning of lunchtime. Floodgates opened and hundreds of witches filled the halls, the roar of their voices flowing ahead like receding tides before a tsunami.

Sucy filtered her way through the crowds, weaving in and out between students in the opposite direction they were all headed. Lotte had been sent ahead to fetch the food while Sucy retrieved their sleep deprived friend.

Stepping into Professor Pisces' room, Sucy found it almost entirely empty, save for one brown haired witch; cheek pressed against the desk, eyes struggling to stay open. Sucy stepped lightly over to where Akko was slumped, running her knuckles gently across the girl's cheek to alert her to another presence.

"Mm.. Sucy? Was I sleeping?" Her voice was slurred and quiet, slightly strained as she tried her best to open her ruby eyes to see the alchemist. Sucy grinned at her love's sleepy face, free to allow herself these few moments of unchecked affection in the empty room. "No little guinea pig, but we're going to do that right now. Can you stand?"

Akko breathed in heavily, mustering all the strength that remained within her to push down on the desk and rise. Any semblance of balance broke when weight shifted to her feet, stumbling into Sucy's waiting arms. The witch squeezed her in a hug, pressing the air from the girl's lungs. Sucy cackled at the brunette's betrayed expression, releasing the force on her body but keeping her held in a gentle embrace. "Now you know how it feels to be in one of your deathgrips. There must be ogre blood in there somewhere." Akko either didn't hear the jab or didn't care, snuggling into Sucy's shoulder.

"I'm not strong enough to carry you, so just lean on me yeah?" Sucy offered an arm, allowing the sleepy girl to hug the appendage and shift her weight. Once situated, Akko closed her eyes, content to let her friend lead.

As they walked through the hall side by side, though the crowds had thinned substantially, Sucy felt eyes on her. The way the girls walked, Akko wrapped around her arm lovingly, didn't leave much to any onlooker's imagination. Sucy felt her face harden; saw the frightened expressions on the faces of those she looked at.

It wasn't her intention to be overtly hostile, thinking back to Blair; her excited, genuinely curious expression. They were just excited; curious, as all people are. But her anxiety sparked something vicious within her.

'Why is Sucy being so affectionate?'

'Is that Akko? Doesn't Sucy always pick on her?'

'Does Sucy love something other than mushrooms?'

'Are they together now?'

Sucy didn't have answers for herself let alone for others, and their stares caused an old feeling to reignite, one she had been trying to stamp out for a month. ' _Don't fight it, let it happen. You love her. This is what it feels like. Loving her is okay.'_

A shifting of the arms around her own yanked Sucy from her thoughts before they got too wild. Akko had tightened her grip as they walked down the steps into the courtyard, red eyes glazed with apprehension. "Hey, don't worry. I've got you."

Stepping onto the grass, Sucy's eyes found Lotte, sitting on the steps next to one of the benches. She was munching away at her own lunch while defending theirs from any airborne pests. Hidden amongst the food was a single vial full of dark blue liquid, retrieved from their dorm at Sucy's request.

"There you two are!" The ginger exclaimed, smiling brightly at the happy couple. Sucy sat down on the bench nearest Lotte, making sure Akko was comfortable before reaching over for the vial. Lotte handed it over quickly, eager to get the bubbling goo away from her food.

"Right so for this to work 100%, you need to down this all in one go. Can you do that for me?" Akko nodded mutely, taking the vial into her hand and raising it to her lips, cringing as it went down.

The affect was almost immediate: eyes dilated, muscles visibly relaxed. Sucy carefully laid the girl down across the bench, resting the head of chocolate brown in her lap.

Akko's brow creased in worry for a moment before she slipped into oblivion, eyes resisting closure as long as they could. "Why do you have a potion that knocks people out?" Sucy giggled, wide shark toothed grin glinting in the afternoon sun. "No reason you need to worry about."

Leaning down, Sucy pressed her lips gently against Akko's forehead, causing the brunette's eyes to slowly sink shut; features relaxing as a small smile spread across her face. "Sweet dreams."

Akko's only response was a quiet hum.

The next ten minutes were ones of silence, the two remaining witches eating their fill in peace. There was a pleasant breeze, fluffy clouds catching on the wind; riding it across the blue skies to lands unknown. The sun had begun its slow fall toward the horizon, shadows crawling out from their hiding places once the great ball of fire had crested over the school roof.

Sucy looked down at the sleeping beauty in her lap, instinctively tucking a strand of brown behind the witch's ear, smiling at the cute little shift in her expression. Her breathing was smooth and uninterrupted, polar opposite to the animalistic growls let forth by her mouth that morning. _'She can be so cute when she isn't flailing about.'_ Pressing a pale hand to Akko's cheek, Sucy absentmindedly thumbed the soft skin; feeling a comfortable heat in her chest when the girl nuzzled into the touch.

"You're so much happier around her."

The alchemist turned to the sudden voice of Lotte, the mousey girl smiling at her warmly, eyes creased in genuine joy. "The way your face softens, it's something i've only read about."

Sucy's eyes swiped to the side bashfully, before bringing her gaze back to her love. "Is it really that big of a difference?"

The ginger nodded, hands pressed together like a prayer. "I see you skulking about like some sort of monster, frowning at everyone you pass, stone faced and jaded like you're ninety!" She pressed her joined hands against one side of her face, eyes closing as she imagined the scene. "And then you see her, and all of that ice melts." Lotte swooned at the romance of it all.

Fire burnt upward from Sucy's heart, scorching the skin of her neck scarlet. She had it bad, and all of her friends seemed to know it.

' _That's fine isn't it? They're just happy for you.'_

A familiar soothing voice called out quietly from within her mind. _'She makes us better, happier. Lotte knows that, and so do you.'_

Akko once again nuzzled into the hand caressing her face, making the alchemist puff a laugh, smile returning full force.

 _'You don't need any answers. You love her. She makes you happy. That's all you need to know.'_

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 _ **A/N: This chapter was really nice to think about, and even nicer to write! As someone with a significant other who goes to sleep far earlier than I do, having characters help others to sleep or just watch over them while they rest, really tugs at my heart.**_

 _ **This chapter we see a development with how Sucy thinks about her relationship with Akko; No matter how hard Sucy has tried to let it happen so far, there is always these underlying questions she just isn't ready to answer but still stresses over. This leads to similar thinking to back before that day of errands, a questioning of who she is. But running in to save the day, a combined effort by yuri!Sucy and Lotte; who point out that no matter what the answers to those questions are, Sucy is far happier when her guinea pig is around, livelier. The rest is just semantics.**_

 ** _I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will set to work on the next very soon._**


	5. Auntie Akko

**_A/N: Welcome back my treasured readers! This week has been very strange so far, my sense of time just vanished. I hope this didn't take any longer than my other chapters, you'll have to let me know._**

 ** _Even though this chapter isn't any longer or shorter than previous chapters word count wise, something in my gut makes it feel shorter. Perhaps that's just because of the much larger document I'm working on between writing Day after Day. (tease tease follow me to get that when it comes out.)_**

 ** _Queen Sydon: WOw? ThRee reviews? THaNk you So MUch? I'm glad my fluff can brighten your day my friend, as your reviews certainly brightened mine._**

 ** _I hope you enjoy the fluff my friends! Reviews are appreciated!_**

* * *

A steady jostling rose Atsuko from her sleep into consciousness, muscles taking a few seconds to respond to commands. There was a breeze against her face, steadily it chilled her nose and whiskers. _'Whiskers?'_ Akko opened her eyes to see a blanket of purple surrounding her body; the scent was familiar, homely. The strands were soft and silky, brushing against her as the ground shifted underfoot.

Turning to the left, Akko could see the halls of Luna Nova, though everything seemed far bigger.. Like when she...

She was a mouse.

Why was she a mouse.

Akko felt her throat tighten; anxious thoughts swirling in her head as she rose from the ground, leaning against the wall for support.

"Try not to wiggle around so much, it tickles my neck." A voice sounded out nearby, the rumble of a voicebox rolling through her furry form.

"Sucy? What's going on? I don't remember being a mouse." The slight panic from earlier was all but gone, Sucy's gentle voice calming her nerves.

The alchemist stifled a laugh, sending another vibration through the transformed witch's paw. "My potion seems to work a little too well, you weren't getting up for anything; shaking, shouting, tickles, potion fumes."

Akko felt slightly offended that her friends had abused her nose again. touching her now more sensitive olfactory system gently. "So you turned me into a mouse?!"

The rodent felt the 'ground' under her shift as Sucy shrugged. "You're too heavy to carry."

"I am not heavy!" She squeaked defensively, puffing her cheeks like a hamster.

The only response was another laugh, vibrating through her limbs.

"Rude!"

 **"Metamorphie Faciesse!"** Once the girls arrived at their next class, the small creature was transformed back into a witch. Akko immediately wrapped her arms around Sucy's waist in a hug, resting her head on the purple girl's shoulder and giving a quick peck to her neck.

Sucy felt heat rise around the collar of her uniform, huffing an awkward laugh when images of her dream flashed before her eyes. "Had a good sleep then?" Her wandering eyes fell on Lotte, who was staring back with a wide smile and kind eyes. Amanda stood behind her with two thumbs up; one eye closed in a wink.

She had to hold in a sneer.

Atsuko nodded against Sucy's shoulder, pulling back and beaming widely; a slight pink tinge to her face. "Even though every single one of them tastes like sewer water, your potions really do the trick." Removing her hands from Sucy, the brunette jumped and turned around, punching the air with renewed vigor.

"I can take on anything now!"

The alchemist watched Akko's chaotic movements with a loving smile, pride flaring in her chest alongside the usual affection. Her mixtures could heal as well as harm; gears in her head began to turn at the realization, imagining all the different ways she could tweak the mixture.

"I doubt that, but you will certainly try.. and try.. and try." Patting the seat next to her, Sucy pulled out her notebook; ready to drink up every word Professor Lukic said. Her favourite girl, her favourite subject, her favourite teacher, all in one place.

 _'Paradise...'_

Akko finally sat down after what felt like ages, shuffling her chair just that bit closer to the alchemist. She understood how focused Sucy would be on Lukic and stayed silent, simply playing with the witch's fingers when she wasn't writing. They were long and slender, soft despite the harsh chemicals Sucy often worked with.

Alchemy wasn't as world revolving to Akko as her friend, she was no good at it, thus tuning out of most classes. Her information would usually come second hand via Sucy, whom Akko was eager to hear from. Sucy could become so energetic when talking about her potion studies, the brunette could listen for hours, absorbing every detail without fail.

Though perhaps she was just a masochist; having poison shoved down your throat every week would scar most people.

The rest of the day flew by with her friends by her side; effects of Sucy's potion still coursing through her veins. Once their final class was complete, Akko and Sucy split off from Lotte, as it was the ginger girl's turn to pick out a movie tonight. Akko walked hand in hand with the witch, heading towards the greenhouse where Sucy's mushroom garden was stored.

"Hey there babies!" The alchemist cooed, opening the sectioned off room her samples were stored in. "Mommy brought dinner!" Carefully checking each of the gauges in the room, Sucy adjusted the temperature slightly; reaching into the cupboard nearby for a proper measuring cup.

She carefully measured a serving of substrate, gently sprinkling it evenly over one infant colony, remeasuring, and moving on to the next. "You're gonna grow some beautiful pins for momma aren't you?"

Akko could taste the humidity in the air, shifting uncomfortably in her uniform. "Auntie Akko is dying over here, can she wait outside?"

Sucy turned to glance over her shoulder, having seemingly forgotten the brunette was present. "What? No of course not, don't be silly. Come say hello to my children."

' _I might as well meet the fungi that will one day be forced into my stomach.'_ Akko moved further into the room, nearly pressed against Sucy, looking over her shoulder as she measured. Trays of what looked to be black dirt of some description, sat side by side on the table; thick, winding, fungal root systems worming their way around inside.

"They're yours too, you know. You helped me gather everything all up."

Something warm suddenly pressed against her cheek; eyes flicking to the side, the brunette found Sucy's face very close. The alchemist gently kissed her cheek once more before returning focus to the trays.

Akko felt a small smile creep up on her face, watching Sucy act so uncharacteristically motherly. Wrapping both arms around the alchemist's waist, she rested her head upon Sucy's shoulder, murmuring into her ear.

"Tell me what you're doing. I like hearing you talk."

And so she did. Standing there in the greenhouse alone with her beloved, tending to their little garden.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Aw man this chapter made me all warm inside while I was writing it. That little bit with their 'children' at the end there. Notice how Sucy's anxiety was almost non existent, intimacy and a domestic life aren't so scary when she lets it happen naturally and doesn't think about it._**

 ** _Akko gets a little more inner looking this chapter; her love of listening to Sucy, who normally stays silent, talk about things she loves. My girlfriend tells me something whenever I prattle on for too long and start feeling guilty about it: She usually has little interest in astronomy or physics; but listening to someone you care about, talk about things they care about, makes it something you care about too. Its like when you have a have a teacher you really like, and pay attention more in their class._**

 ** _A little bit of my relationship leaking into theirs, but hey that happens when you write._**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed! Tell me how I did!_**


	6. Impress me

**_A/N: And I return! Still struggling with the concept of time. That has not gotten better. This chapter took a little while to write; as I've mentioned before, Writer's Block to Procrastination is a True Combo. This is just straight fluff tonight, cuddling and Disney movies. Prepare your insulin._**

 ** _Loli Hitler: It gives me emotions honestly. I just want them to have a little apartment together and raise their mushroom children. Extra points if magic turns them sentient. Thank you so much my friend! I will write on!_**

 ** _A Potato: Thanks for stopping by friend! This here is a fluff dispenser, that's all we got. My girlfriend is very similar! I think it's just a thing that happens when you care about someone. Thank you for reading! I hope this chapter makes you just as warm._**

 ** _James Birdsong: Thank you treasured reader!_**

 ** _DuwangChew:_ _I am humbled that you find my Sucy so enjoyable!_ _ **Su** cy is a very fun character to write!_**

 ** _Sucy at her core, behind all the layers of mischief, is a very sweet person who cares a lot; but only once she finds something to truly care about. (That doesn't happen often due to a constant inner pushback against anything she may want to do. But that's a whole other discussion going into Freud territory.)_**

 ** _Alchemy for example: Sucy has a very deep interest in alchemy and becomes far more energetic when talking about or performing it. Her friends are another: Despite any hell Sucy may personally put them through, they are hers, and she will protect them to the end. _**

**_(A favourite example is in episode 13: Sucy cracking her neck, ready to throw down when Hannah and Barbara were talking shit on her friends.)_**

 ** _She particularly cares very very deeply for Akko, in a different way to the others. Notice in episode 8 how much her inner selves cherish the moment they first met, and how much she genuinely loves just hanging around with her. (Loosing the broom race is now one of her most treasured memories) Akko makes her laugh, makes her smile; I don't believe Sucy had ever had a best friend, possibly any friends period, before they met on that bridge; but now she has one for life. And that is something very special._**

 ** _I could go on for a good while about possible guilt complexes stemming from being abandoned as a child, or her anxiety about showing what she may perceive to be weakness (read: affection), but this has already become rather weighty for a review response ^.^"_**

 ** _Thank you all so much for your reviews, They really make my day. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

* * *

When the two witches returned, Constanze was already present, silently setting up a small projector with her robots. A large roll of canvas screen had been fastened to the wall, ready to be deployed as soon as everyone was comfortable. Akko waved gleefully at the small engineer, taking one hand off of Sucy's arm to do so. The tiny German held a thumb up, keeping her eyes on her work.

Dropping all of their books in a pile on the desk, the girls began to undress; removing the prim uniform and hopping into more comfortable clothes.

Atsuko found it humorous that in her lazy clothes, Sucy somehow looked even more enchanting.

The white nightdress cascaded down to the floor, hugging her lithe form in just the right way. The lace that surrounded her collarbones blended colours of skin and fabric, making the alchemist appear almost ghostly.

"Another day in the bin, one step closer to death." Fluffing the pillows, Sucy relaxed on her bed; leaving ample room for her love to join her, if she so wished.

Akko did wish, hopping into Sucy's lap and wrapping her arms around the witch's neck. "Movie niggght~" She sang happily, almost dancing in her seated position.

"Get off!" Sucy objected, laughing through her frown. "You're crushing me, fatty!" She pushed at the brunette's chest, tiny pink tint under her eyes as she grinned widely.

"Rude!" Akko cried, releasing her grip on the pale girl and falling to lay beside her. "I thought you liked me Sucy!" She pouted with faux offense.

"Oh but I do." The alchemist replied, grappling around Akko's nearest arm and hugging tightly. "I like you at my side for easy access, not on top of me."

"Who's on top of who? Leave room for Jesus ladies." Amanda teased, entering the room with a crash, followed by Jasminka and Lotte; every arm brimming with snacks and drinks.

Sucy felt no urge to scowl this time, simply keeping to her neutral calm expression; arms wrapped around Akko comfortably. "The Catholics burned witches, Amanda. I'm in no hurry to appeal to their figurehead."

The redhead laughed, tossing a large bag of popcorn in their direction, where it landed smack in the centre of Akko's face. "Well excuse me for wanting to save your sinful souls." She fell back onto Akko's bed, kicking her shoes off and crossing one leg over the other casually.

Lotte knelt down next to Constanze, handing over her choice of movie. "It's an old favourite, me and my mum watch it every year." A group of spirits carried her burden of drinks towards the desk, offering one to Amanda on the way.

"Some fluffy romance bizz? I hope it's mortal stuff; they make good movies."

The mousy ginger frowned. "Don't call them mortals, they're just people." Picking up the cover, she gestured to the large cursive text at the top. "Disney. They make all sorts of films. I mentioned them last night, while you were cramming at the last second." Her tone similar to a disappointed mother, Lotte held a fist against her hip, eyes burning against the side of Amanda's head.

"I probably flunked that quiz." The broom dancer mused, raising her voice to add an offended accusation toward the other bed. "Too busy nursing my wounds!"

Sucy snickered, ignoring the opportunity to jab back and turning her gaze up at her love. Akko tore at the popcorn bag with her teeth fruitlessly, either in revenge for batting her in the face, or simply in ravenous hunger. "Aw crap, you didn't get to eat lunch did you?"

Her potion had worked too well, and consequently forced the witch to miss her meal. Sucy grasped the brunette's jaw, causing the hinge joint to release its captive.

"Give it here." Taking the bag from the witch's maw, Sucy easily pulled the bag open; settling it between their hips for easy access. Taking a handful of popcorn, she stuffed it into Akko's still open mouth. "Honestly, how would you get anything done if I weren't here?"

Akko frowned, chewing and swallowing the large gob of buttery starch, though a grin crept through her facade. "If I'm so useless, I guess you'll just have to sick around forever." A tight squeeze in her arm forced her attention toward the ghostly girl; a wide genuine smile across Sucy's pale face, eyes closed happily.

"I guess so." She laughed. "I'll have to keep you chained up in my lab."

As the movie played, the girls stayed quiet, comfortably cuddled up in their corner. Akko's eyes were glued to the screen, eating up every moment of magic; Sucy, simply enjoying the dark, the ability to be next to her love without stressing over what others saw.

"I've hogged this the whole time, you want some?" The brunette had turned to her, offering two puffs of corn. Sucy nodded opening and closing her maw hungrily in Akko's direction. "Feed me, servant."

Akko giggled, holding a single kernel millimeters from Sucy's gnashing teeth. She yelped as the alchemist's shark fangs came down over the popcorn, digging lightly into her fingers. "Hey! If you want me to feed you, be docile!"

"Gotta be quick, these chompers are coming down." The alchemist teased, resting her head on Akko's shoulder and opening her mouth impatiently. "If I'm gonna keep you, I need to be impressed first. Show me your reflexes."

She could almost see Akko's indignant expression behind her closed eyes; puffed cheeks, eyebrows low. The single greatest image in the world.

Strong arms suddenly scooped the alchemist up, setting her down in a different position. One hand snaked around her waist, the other setting something down in Sucy's lap. She was now settled between Akko's legs, leaning back against the brunette's chest; a chin settling itself down amongst her pink roots.

Looking up at her love questioningly, a heavy amount of red creeping up her neck, the only answer Sucy got was a popcorn offered toward her lips. "Is this what you wanted?" Akko asked, a tiny pink tint above her small smile.

Sucy looked back towards the film bashfully, accepting the starchy treat between her teeth. "It's a start."

* * *

 _ **A/N: ATSUKO KAGARI WITH THE SMOOOOOOTH MOVVVESSS. Having the usual big spoon become the little spoon is always fun. (I particularly like a good head scratch myself.) And who doesn't love a blushing Sucy?** **Ahh sitting down and watching movies with the mates, what a cozy chapter. Sucy is certainly cozy now.** **This is just fluff, so much fluff. I have cavities now.**_

 _ **I'm not 100% happy with this chapter for some reason, perhaps that's just typical content creator self hate.**_

 _ **IN OTHER NEWS: If you haven't checked it out yet I have another story ongoing now, A Rose in Winter. Also fluffy Sukko. This time with princesses and knights and shit. Go dive into that 3k words of goodness if you want more cavities.**_

 ** _I feel strange tonight. Let me know if that strangeness translated into my writing at all. I'm going to bed._**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed my treasured readers, and I will see you in a few days._**


	7. Aggressive Finger to Thumb

**_A/N: Time flies when your sense of time is fucucked. It feels like just yesterday I uploaded the last chapter! Though it probably felt far longer to you, my friends. This chapter is just more fluff, as my brain seems incapable of much else at the moment. I hope you enjoy!_**

 ** _A Potato: Hahah! That feeling is my main goal friend! I'm glad it was satisfactory. I believe at one point I actually had an idea of what movie they would watch, but that seems to have vanished from my memory. Knowing me, it was probably either Meet the Robinson's or Beauty and the Beast. (Meet the Robinson's is my favourite Disney movie probably ever.)_**

 ** _NotThatBarnable: Whaaaaaat? Your favourite? Thank you so much my dear friend! And yes, Akko's ability to be smooth, completely uncalled for, gives me life. Thank you!_**

 ** _Enjoy friends! Reviews are always appreciated! They truly make my day._**

* * *

 _Fall colours surrounded her as a light breeze shook leaves from branches. The air was cool, with that crisp smell that signaled the ending of the year. Akko walked beside her, bundled up in a bright orange jacket, like the day they first met. She watched the skies in wonder as the wind pulled maple keys from their boughs; they twirled and danced above their heads, slowly drifting towards the earth._

 _The path ahead was blurry, thick with fog, as if an artist had yet to complete painting; though there was always more forest ahead, the same browns and reds and yellows._

 _A tug on her gloved hand brought attention to a little girl, situated comfortably between herself and Akko._

 _Her eyes shone bright, red as the leaves around their feet; her smile brighter than any star. Her beautiful brown hair hung down over one eye, hiding the pale porcalin skin underneath._

 _"Mother?" The little girl asked, tugging her hand again. "When we get home, can I show you something?"_

 _"Of course, baby bunny, what are you gonna show me?" She heard herself say, adoration and love dripping from every word._

 _"Auntie Lotte taught me a song! She said its magic!" The child's face lit up with excitement, recounting each note of her aunt's Spirit Song._

 _Akko laughed, beaming smile mirroring the child's. "We would love to listen to you sing Seicho! Maybe if you believe hard enough, something magical will happen."_

 _The scene changed her vision pulled away from her own body, watching the family walk into the fog; Akko's pea_ ceful face was not far from her own, the brunette girl breathing quietly as she slept.

Sucy snuggled closer to her love, breathing deeply with pleasure at the dreamy scene.

"This is what I want." She spoke quietly to herself. "This is all I need."

Hearing her own voice aloud shook Sucy from her blissful trance; this wasn't a dream anymore. Akko was really sleeping beside her, arms wrapped around her actual waist lovingly.

Roaring fire blew upward from Sucy's heart, staining her entire face with blood.

 _'W-What?'_

The last memories that she had were of movie night, leaning back against Akko and...

 _'...feeling sleepy.'_

They had fallen asleep on eachother and shifted during the night.

Looking around the room as much as she could from her prison within Akko's grip, Sucy found the projector still set up, the screen having been rolled back up against the ceiling. Amanda had fallen asleep on Akko's bed upside down, mouth wide open to let forth bear growls. Jasminka and Lotte lay on the floor, tucked in properly, while Constanze was nowhere to be found.

Before she could ponder further on the location of their tiny German, Akko grabbed hold of her waist, one hand against her head, pulling her close. "Mmm..S..ucy.."

Adrenaline surged through her veins, instinct almost making her fists fly upward toward her attacker. But there was no attacker here, just Atsuko.

Pressed against the brunette's neck, Sucy could only shift and get more comfortable, pulling her hands to her chest. Though she was trapped, the alchemist found the situation rather pleasant; cuddled up beside her love, warm arms holding her tightly while still being gentle.

The comfort overwhelmed her anxiety and she simply laid there, taking in Atsuko's peaceful expression. Viewing her face like this brought flashes of her most recent dream; of their little girl's beaming smile.

'Maybe one day..'

Eventually, others began stirring from slumber. Amanda awoke first, tumbling out of bed onto the floor. "Square up bitch boy! I'll kick your ass!" The redhead shouted madly as she awoke, jolting her gaze around the room. Eyes landing on Sucy, who had turned around in Akko's grip, she grinned slyly.

"Enjoying yourself there?"

Sucy's eyes snapped open, frowning deeply at the broom dancer. "Yes I am. So piss off, unless you want to ruin my good mood." She growled, turning over into Akko again.

Unprepared for the admission, Amanda was taken aback. "Oh. Well.. good for you? I guess?" Sucy ignored her, grabbing the blanket and yanking it up to cover the sleeping couple.

"Have fun.."

Sucy snuggled up into Akko's neck, pressing her pink cheek into the brunette's shoulder. It was inevitable that they would have to get up at some point, but Sucy was going to drag it out as long as possible.

But as more of the girl's stirred from their sleep, the alchemist prepared herself mentally to leave her little slice of heaven. She could stay like this forever, wrapped in warmth and the sweet bliss of oblivion.

"Sucy? Are you awake?" And there it was; Lotte whispering quietly, as to not stir her friend if she was still asleep. The thought was appreciated, but she still couldn't help feeling betrayed.

"Yes." She sighed, conceding to the call of reality. "Let me just slip out of here."

She wiggled, attempting to slide out from Akko's arms to no avail; the girl's grip was like a vice, locking Sucy's body to hers. "Akko, let go." She whispered, wiggling more as to pull her love from dreamland.

"Akko." She tried louder, really struggling to escape from the Iron Arms of Kagari. "Let go!" She was shouting now.

Not a peep.

Laying down and relaxing for a short reprieve, Sucy eyed the girl's neck, an evil thought sliding up her spine. ' _I've always wanted to do this._ ' She cackled mentally, imagining Akko's shocked face.

With that glorious image guiding her, Sucy sunk her razor sharp fangs into Akko's neck, where it joined with her shoulder.

"Su-AAARHGH!" Akko screeched in confusion, eyes bulging wide open, feeling a set of shark teeth dig into her skin. In truth, Atsuko had dreamed about something similar happening once, but this was a far cry from the steamroom of her imagination.

Sucy pulled back, observing her work with pride. An ovular ring of marks wrapped around Akko's shoulder, red and slightly bleeding. ' _Guess I got too into that.'_ She mused, soothing the wound with a few gentle kisses.

"Sucy! What the fuck!" Akko yelled, rolling onto her back to grasp her neck, taking Sucy with her.

"Morning!~" The pale witch sang sweetly, visible eye staring up at the brunette with the look of a small animal. The charade was clear however; her smile was highly predatory, sharp and menacing.

"I thought that might work.~" She remarked, every word dripping with sugar. "You're such a sleepyhead."

Unable to keep up the act, Sucy dropped her head down into Akko's chest, cackling madly. Her face was identical to the image in her head: shocked, afraid, slightly betrayed, her face flushed completely pink.

"This is gonna last for days!" Akko whined, attempting to hide the mark from Lotte's shocked eyes and Sucy's all too pleased gaze.

"You can hide it under your uniform, idiot. Don't worry so much." The alchemist handwaved, patting her love on the cheek and rolling off of her, stepping down to the floor.

"I'm going to get washed up, would you like to come?" Sucy stood at the door, second set of clothes in hand, grinning smugly.

Akko's cheeks puffed out, and she hopped off the bed grumpily. "Yes." Picking out an outfit, she begrudgingly joined Sucy at the door, pouting.

Sucy grasped at the other witch's face, tilting her head up to look at her.

"Chin up little guinea pig, I like seeing you smile."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Oooooohhh boy, that was really fun to write. That dream**_ ** _sequence tho, my blood sugar is in the stratosphere. A family walk through the park with their little, probably homunculus, daughter. Fun Fact: Seicho simply means growth, and was the first name of a Japanese crime fiction writer._**

 ** _When thinking about how their little girl would look, my brain did a bit of messy genetics thinking. Blah blah blah red eyed parents 75% red eyed child, blah blah blah pink hair is highly recessive. But this whole thing is probably moot, as an alchemically created child could probably be adjusted to look however and this is a world of magic, but shush._**

 ** _And teeth. Teeth happened. (Aggressive finger to thumb vibration)_**

 ** _Good work Sucy, she's your's now, according to the laws of nature._**

 ** _Tell me how it was friends! I hope you enjoyed._**


	8. Vital Testing Apparatus

_**A/N: Welcome back! Today we have fluff with a side of possessive Sucy! Because who doesn't love that top tier gay shiet.**_

 _ **This was a pretty easy and entertaining chapter to write, we have some good flip flop between Sucy's two modes; which I always adore and hope you do too!**_

 _ **A Potato: It makes me so glad that it was worth the wait my dearest friend! Thank you so much!**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: So many reviews! I am so grateful my friend!**_

 _ **Yes! Sucy as a character has a very simple set of needs, she doesn't have massive complex dreams or wants like Akko does. All she needs is her mushrooms and her girl, and shes happy.**_

 ** _Snuggles during movie nights give me existence. That sort of squeal from fluff is the response I'm looking for when I write. It makes me so glad that you got enjoyment out of it! As for my weird feelings, I found out later that I had completely forgotten about the existence of my anti depressants. (Which went about as well as you would expect.) Fun._**

 ** _I'm glad you caught the update! I update every four days! My goal is to supply a steady stream of fluff at a decent but not too long length. And yes as someone who actually has very sharklike teeth, it's just as cool as you think it is. I was waiting for Sucy to use them during the show but that never really happened; but hey that's what fanfiction is for. Also yes swearing is big, clever, and funny; it makes me giggle thinking of such a sweet bubbly girl like Akko having such a filthy mouth._**

 ** _Thank you for your reviews!_**

 ** _I hope you all enjoy this chapter friends! Reviews are appreciated! They always make my day._**

* * *

The changing rooms of Luna Nova were rather busy most mornings, filled with witches fresh out of the showers, brushing hair, doing makeup, straightening skirts. Today was a little different however, as a large portion of the student body remained asleep, eager to abuse the rare non-instructional day.

Despite such a percentage remaining in bed, the room was far from empty; a gentle drone of voices hanging in the air. Many of them stayed on one side of the room, fearful of provoking a certain alchemist early in the morning.

Contrary to popular belief, Sucy was having an excellent day so far: waking up in the arms of her love, getting to witness Akko's freak out upon waking up, subsequently observing her struggle to keep the mark on her neck hidden. It was a pleasant morning.

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Atsuko grumbled, pulling a collared shirt around her shoulders. The girl's face had been a shade of pink all morning, her consistent flustered movements and puffed cheeks a joy for Sucy to behold. "Because I'm not." Turning her head away from Sucy's smug grin, she clumsily attempted to button her shirt, nervous fingers struggling to thread the needle.

The alchemist giggled, tossing a black bolo tie around Akko's neck. "Oh come on, it was funny. And now you have a beautiful new tattoo." Her fingers worked skillfully, quickly wrapping the fabric into a clean bow, laying a peck above the brunette's brow.

"Think of it this way." She started, straightening out the creases of Akko's shirt. "If I'm going to keep you, It's only necessary to mark out what belongs to me."

Akko flushed further, keeping her eyes locked on a loose tile. "I-I'm not a potion beaker, y-you don't need to do that. I'm not going anywhere." Even though a part of her deep down enjoyed the idea, she had to keep some semblance of control, lest Sucy walk all over her.

"Don't be silly, you're a vital testing apparatus. Incredibly valuable. " Sucy smiled, a warmth breaking through her mischievous mask; her own bolo tied without incident.

"Speaking of _testing~_ " The alchemist sang, fixing her sights on Akko, slinking towards her as a predator would it's prey. "You wouldn't mind helping me out, would you?" Sucy's expression was sweet and pleading, but her eyes portrayed the image of a tigress.

Akko gulped, instinctively touching her shoulder, feeling the dents in her skin through the fabric.

"I uh.." Akko took a step back, glancing frantically around the room for escape routes. "..don't think I'd..."

 _'She's in a good mood, if you play along she'll go easy on you.'_ Atsuko wasn't sure which part of her was talking, her mind or her heart; weighing options and choosing the best course of action, or seducing her further into Sucy's predatory grip.

Experiments with Sucy were a confusing thing. On one hand, Akko hated the taste, the feeling of embarrassment, the adverse effects on her health; but on the other, a part of her liked it, liked the attention, giving herself up.

The realization made her burn; she was becoming a _total masochist._

An impish giggle forced the brunette to crack open an eye. "You love it, I know you do." Sucy was close, very close, each shark tooth interlocking perfectly as she grinned widely. Akko's neck throbbed painfully, looking at the implements once buried into her skin.

"You're going to ruin me." Akko sighed, giving in with a slump.

Her tormentor's grin grew even wider. "That's the plan, my dearest guinea pig."

And so that was how Akko ended up tied to a chair, stomach writhing in objection to the vile substances crammed into it, body crying out as it fought off the toxins. Her face was flushed as she struggled with the contradictory feelings warring inside of her.

Sucy stood very nearby, meticulously scanning the brunette's body for changes, a handheld voice recorder at the ready. A pale hand grasped Akko by the chin, forcing her to meet eyes with another set of smoldering red ones. As the alchemist closely observed her, the brunette could feel a thumb gently stroking just under her lip.

"Subject's eyes are dilated, increased body temperature suggests hormonal shift. Correlation with further testing."

"Don't act all surprised." Akko grumbled, understanding the jab at her excitement and attempting to change the subject away from her budding masochism. "You'd be all hot and bothered too if a pretty girl was grabbing your face."

"I'm pretty am I?" Sucy teased, slithering around behind the chair, smile growing wider seeing her guinea pig fidget. "Such a nice compliment deserves a reward, don't you think?" A clack of teeth near Akko's ear made her shiver, wound on her neck throbbing in fear.

But instead of further abuse, three sweet kisses trailed up the side of her face. One just below her jaw, another on her flushed cheek, and one final one against her temple.

"I think you're quite pretty as well, Akko." Sucy's voice was warm and sweet, predatory edge vanishing into thin air. "It's a good thing I got you marked up first, someone else might have tried to steal you." Although Sucy's possessiveness could be rather frightening sometimes, Akko found It felt nice to be wanted, especially by someone she cared for so much.

Her loving haze was interrupted suddenly by a different, darker haze encroaching on her vision. "Sucy!" She yelped, struggling to keep her head against the alchemist for an anchor point. "It's getting dark!"

Sucy hummed, gliding around the chair to look her love in the eyes. "Blindness... promising." Akko's normally ruby red eyes were being covered by a web of purple, quickly spreading out from the pupil like vines.

Akko wiggled in her bonds, beginning to panic. "Sucy! Fix it now!"

"Subject's iris and aqueous humor appear to be infested with some sort of biomass. Blindness reported."

"SUCY! **NOW!** " Akko's inhuman strength struggled against the rope containing her, loosening with each violent jerk.

"Subject appears to be getting violent, correlation unknown." She couldn't help the toothy grin that slipped out from behind her clinical tone.

" **SUCY GIVE ME THE FUCKING ANTIDOTE!** " The alchemist cackled, pecking the brunette on the cheek as she slowly made her way over to the desk.

It was a good day.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Ooh that was fun. I heavily enjoy possessive Sucy, and this chapter was very easy to write because of it! The little bit of domestic interaction near the beginning there with Sucy helping her love with her tie was very nice to write._**

 ** _Also the hilarity that is Akko's budding masochism, being tested on by someone you have such a massive crush on is bound to create a positive correlation in your brain._**

 _ **If you would like to see more of that kind of stuff, check out NotThatBarnable's fic** **Experimentation! It's a very enjoyable shippy fic that goes a bit further into Akko's struggles with her developing masochistic desires towards Sucy. (Vibrating Finger to Thumb)**_

 ** _Thank you very much for reading! Tell me how it was!_**


	9. Something Wicked this way Comes

_**A/N: SUDDEN TIMESKIP. Because A: episode 12 and 13 are hilarious, and B: Kap's writers block is bad. More protective Sucy! Because I crave that shit like AIR.**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you very much my cherished friend! Your kind words make me smile! Akko's masochism makes me giggle and also aggressively vibrate a finger to thumb. Its that top tier gay blushy crushy sheit and also a pretty natural progression of her interactions with Sucy? I mean having a cute girl who's slightly dom naturally, messing with you is bound to jiggle them hormones.**_

 _ **Magicantix: Hey there friend! Thank you for the reviews, your words are very kind! And totally go for it! I would love to read your take on their relationship, no matter what you think of your own ability! Writing is a skill that really boils down to looking at inspiration; be that art, other works or what have you; and then going full Shia Labeouf and just doing it. The more you do it, the quicker you improve! I can look back at earlier works from a few months ago and clearly see the improvement.**_

 _ **And yes. I wonder what she could have been dreaming about?**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 ** _On Diakko, what can I say? Its a gud ship with some good parallels and canon backing behind it. Though to be honest Andrew x Akko has a similar amount of backing and I enjoy that as much. My perspective is that you can infer a lot of subtext between interactions, especially with an anime like LWA: where the waters around ships are muddier and vague. I for instance infer quite a bit of subtext; I try to stay as close as I can to how the relationship is portrayed in canon, but I am a die hard shipper so there's bound to be embellishment._**

 ** _In a piece of fiction where the writers choose to step back from confirming anything, it is totally up to the viewer to conclude one way or the other; where one person sees clear signs of rivalry turned love, another person might see a hostile relationship morphed into a deep friendship. Where I may see a quiet girl unsure of how affection works falling for her first and best friend, another may see a tsundere girl not wanting to admit she has a best friend at all._**

 ** _Tldr: Its subjective and I intend to keep it that way._**

 ** _The lack of a followup to 8 burns me as well, but that is tied to a deeper issue with how LWA uses its cast; many main characters (like Lotte and Sucy) are pushed to the back in the later episodes. Eh what are you gonna do? ¯\\_ツ_/¯ Let's just hope a season 2 happens and we get more from our best girl._** _ **Thank you very much for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **And I hope you all enjoy as well! Reviews are very much appreciated!**_

* * *

Akko strode confidently from Professor Ursula's room, a determined spring in her step as she marched. Despite the trainwreck that was yesterday, Atsuko would not back down; she would become the Moonlight Witch.

Everyone would see.

Diana would see.

Akko's face scrunched up, remembering how the platinum blonde had told her off in front of everyone.

"'You have no right to study here!'" She parroted sardonically, fueling her determination with spite.

In retrospect, pretending to be Diana wasn't her greatest idea, she had ultimately brought the outcome upon herself. Though when an opportunity presented itself, she had to make the most out of it; a page from Amanda's life philosophy.

Life is full of doors, opening and closing around you, and when one closes, another opens.

Another door opened that very moment, a hand yanking Akko inside forcefully. The brunette was pushed up against a wall, two witches blocking off her paths of escape. She shrunk back, hands in front of her defensively.

"There you are Akko!" Hannah barked, leaning forward into her face.

"How dare you trick us like that the other day!" Barbara leaned in as well, hands against her hips in an irritated manner.

Akko shrunk back further, trying an awkward forced smile. "So sorry about that.." In all honesty she absolutely wasn't. These two had tortured her since day one, and a door just so happened to open to enable their comeuppance.

"You really think an apology is enough?" The redhead took a step forward, well kept eyebrows creased in anger. "Seriously!" Barbara continued. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?"

Just as it seemed the two were going to approach further, they pulled back, turning to each other with wicked grins growing across their lips.

"Well.." One began.

"But.." The other started milliseconds after.

"We'll forgive you, since you three poor souls get to be the sacrifices~" Hannah's lip pouted in mock pity, holding in a giggle.

Barbara was not so subtle however. "I can't wait to see everyone laugh at you!" Twisted glee was clear on her face; an expression Akko was familiar with, though this grin was different: holding malice within the eyes instead of the love she was used to. "You are so perfect for sacrifices!"

Leaning in again, the redhead let her joy leak through. "Akko the idiot, creepy Sucy.."

"And the girl less noticeable then air, Lotte!" Always on the same wavelength as her accomplice, the raven haired witch finished off the trio, bringing a hand towards her mouth to stifle giggles. "You three are a pack of losers!"

Akko's cheeks bloated, eyes burning into the floor angrily as her tormentors laughed. She felt her fists clench, struggling against her heart, screaming at her to square up and fight these harlots. _'You can't get into a fight at school.. that will disqualify you for Moonlight Witch!'_

"What's with that face? Got nothing to say?" One of the imps goaded, leaning in further.

A familiar aura of pressure stopped Akko from responding; someone else was in the room, someone angry.

"Maybe she's trying to stay civil; **unlike you two, talking about someone while they're** ** _listening_** **."** Sucy's voice was ice cold, every single word dripping with venom; a venom Akko could never survive.

 **"Who's creepy?"**

The three witches felt a shiver roll through their spine, Hannah and Barbara nervously turning their heads back to see the alchemist's long pink hair, shadows casting over her one remaining eye. Lotte stood at the door, hugging her books, light reflecting off her glasses to hide the tearful sheen to her eyes.

Sucy stepped forward; though they were all roughly similar heights, the alchemist seemingly towered over the three girls. "O-Oh... Hi- uh -S-Sucy..." Hannah tried, shrinking back behind her friend, who was forcibly used as a human shield.

The waves of malice stung Akko's nose and she felt her hands begin to shake; Sucy was often mischievous, a little mean, but never had she felt so hateful.

 **"What are we all up to here?"** The pink haired witch pulled out a glass vile, nonchalantly fiddling with its cap. **"Because it sounded like nothing good."** Sucy opened the vial as a large beetle scuttled across the floor, dripping a tiny amount onto its shell when it passed underneath her hand.

The effect was instant, a purple mass grew from the contact point, spreading out and covering the bug's entire body, crushing the poor creature to death before devouring it whole. The three watched in abject horror as the vile mass began to fizzle and burn itself to ash, fearfully returning their gaze to the poison master.

Akko gulped, recognizing the mixture's colour from last week's testing. What had once simply blinded her temporarily, was now a cold and efficient killing machine.

Barbara was the first to regain her spine, stuttering out an explanation with an awkward laugh. "Aha.. We were j-just messing around, right Akko?" The same grip that had pushed her against the wall now pulled her away from it, setting her next to Barbara.

Even though they completely deserved whatever the unstable alchemist had planned, Akko wasn't keen on the idea of anyone getting murdered today, or ever for that matter. "Y-Yeah!" She stumbled. "Just messing around Sucy!"

 **"Really."** Sucy was not buying it, but seemingly understood Akko's intention. Her aura of pressure letting up, she took a step forward, lifting her head to make her eye visible. **"Akko doesn't have time to be messing around. And neither do you two."**

Lifting an arm up towards the door, the alchemist offered escape. **"Don't you two have a festival to be planning?"**

Jumping at the chance, the two girls smiled in fear, quickly shuffling towards the door. "Ah yes! W-We should g-get going!" Hannah waved awkwardly, breaking into a sprint as soon as the exit was an arms reach away.

Sucy didn't watch them go, instead gliding up to her guinea pig and grabbing her face with both hands, checking her over for any forming bruises or welts. "Why did you let them off so fast?" The alchemist asked quietly, straightening Akko's slightly roughed up uniform. "I was going to let them have it."

"You were going to _murder_ them." Akko pointed out, reaching up to grasp Sucy's wrists.

Her one visible eye closed as she laughed darkly. "Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. I have to protect what's mine."

Atsuko flushed, a tiny smile trying to break through her scolding expression. "Well protecting me is all well and good, but remember what Professor Lukic said about murder with magic." A fate worse than death, the most terrible thing one can imagine multiplied tenfold.

The alchemist dropped her hands, shifting her glance off to the side, focusing hard on a blank wall. "It would've been worth it." She muttered under her breath.

"Now come on, we have your stupid plan to work on." Akko was suddenly yanked along behind her friend, who grabbed Lotte on the way through the door, pulling them both down the hall to parts unknown.

Not having to focus on walking, Akko's thoughts drifted. Sucy was always so contradictory; dangerous, frightening, sweet, caring. She joked about murder, but a voice in the back of Akko's head was deadly serious. That single ruby was filled with absolute malice; she would have done serious harm to those girls if Akko didn't step in.

She had to try to avoid trouble from now on, lest Sucy do something insane in her defense.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Nothing's more dangerous than a mother bear protecting her cubs, and similarly, nothing is more dangerous than a possessive Sucy protecting her love. It's an aspect of Sucy's character I really really enjoy, how afraid the other students are of her- rightly so most of the time -and how protective Sucy is of the things she cares about. It all combines to make a very fun set of interactions between those she loves and cares about, herself, and those she deems a threat.**_

 _ **This was really fun to write. I think we all wanted to see Sucy throw down to protect her friends (That neck cracking!) Though it's getting a bit more difficult to come up with ideas for chapters, as my brain is absorbed with plot ideas for my other fic.**_

 ** _That being said, feel free in your reviews or in PMs to pitch in ideas for future chapters!_**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed my friends! Tell me how it was._**


	10. Progress

_**A/N: Man you what what's a good blog for lwa inspiration? KuroCatWorld. So much fantastic lwa art gathered in one place. Diakko, Annko, Sukko, fuckign all the ships and characters, everything is sourced. It's great.**_

 _ **Anyway this chapter is slightly based on a piece of art I found on there by**_ ** _そいり_** _ **on pixiv.**_

 _ **A Potato: Hello there my potato friend! Thank you for reviewing so often! I'm glad you enjoyed. And yes! WhiteWolffang is an amazing artist with some top tier Sukko; I frequent their twitter often!**_

 _ **Magicantix: Thank you very much my friend! And don't mention it. It's always a pleasure to meet new Sukko writers! I look forward to your first work!**_

 _ **Most of the chapters completed thus far actually take place during the opening of episode 11, when there is a month long timeskip. There is no real limit to the amount of chapters per episode, but I like to have everything happen around the canon events. This chapter for example is Akko practicing her metamorphic magic in preparation for sacrifice duty, a moment we never fully saw so I'm filling it in with a bit of alteration to said episode.**_

 ** _Ohohoho yes that song fits quite well. It gave me a good giggle. Imagine Akko just singing that in like the shower or whatever and Sucy hears it and_** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 ** _Ohhhh boy that gives me a bunch of ideas. Sucy has always been the slower one, the one to take her time and think things through. She doesn't know where Akko is, but Sucy knows she'll need the rod wherever she is. It's like a spouse having all of their husband/wife's stuff ready for them to take to work. Fuckign makes me emotional._**

 ** _Her return to the place they met is brilliant, you really get to see just how much she's realized about herself by that point. Sucy didn't know just how much Akko meant to her until she was gone. (The grass is always greener.) And once Akko's been found the contrast between beginning of the show Sucy and Sucy right then is astronomical. She's not afraid to let those warm loving smiles through, and right at the end of the show she actively initiates a hug, really the first time that ever happens. Akko's back and Sucy's not going a second longer without showing her how much she cares._**

 ** _Shit now you've got me gushing. But I've got a ton of ideas my friend, thank you so much!_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy my friends!_**

* * *

The rest of that afternoon was spent in Luna Nova's courtyard, shouting spells over and over, shifting from animal to animal. Lotte was at the ready with levitation spells, lest the brunette transform into something small too high in the air. Sucy sat comfortably on a nearby bench, simply enjoying the show, either cheering her love on or teasing her depending on the level of success.

She was certainly improving. Though not at the level of her idol, she could control with higher and higher accuracy what she would turn into, a mouse being the form with the highest success rate.

Students gave the girls a very wide berth, word of Sucy's hostile mood travelling quickly from ear to ear. The alchemist smirked at that. 'Thats right. Stay away from my guinea pig.' She casually crossed a leg over her knee, resting her arms against the back of the bench and enjoying the power trip.

"Again! **Metamorphie Faciesse!** "

That look of pure determination was something she always admired about Akko, how that beautiful idiot could pick herself up from anything and keep going, odds be damned. Truth be told, Akko had natural talent in nothing but failure, though in spite of everyone and everything telling her _'_ No. Stop trying. You will fail _._ ' she screamed _yes_ , and somehow ended up the victor. She showed them all.

 _'Like she showed you.'_ The little girl in her head pointed out. _'Despite all the mean things you did; how rude you were trying to push her away, she was going to be your best friend no matter what.'_

Sucy laughed to herself, memories of that day coming back in waves. She had never had a friend before, never needed one, it had always been just her and granny. But then this loud persistent girl barreled into her life, quite literally, and started jabbering in her face with that bright sunny smile. She tried her best to shake her off, ignoring her every word, making her stuffed bird attack her, nothing worked.

 _'But aren't you glad in the end?'_

Looking over at the object of her affections, Sucy giggled at the struggling witch's half successful transformation. Her skin had become striped in multiple colours like a tiger, a thick fluffy tail sneaking out under her skirt, a silly pair of orange ears atop her head; she looked adorable.

"Yeah I am." She whispered to herself, gliding up behind Akko to pull at her tail.

The brunette yelped, jumping two feet into the air, hands instinctively flying to her tailbone in defense. "SU-" She was about to yell the alchemist's name, but the feeling of arms slithering around her waist and tuffs of air against her neck froze Akko in place.

"She makes such a cute kitty doesn't she?" Sucy's voice was low and grumbly, directed towards Lotte who stood nearby in slight shock. "You know, there are some species of python that regularly eat tiger cubs _whole_." Akko gulped, throat feeling dry and neck quivering in fear at the closeness of Sucy's fangs.

"I would never do that to you though Akko." She reassured, pecking a kiss right behind the brunette's ear, though her predatory tone reassured no one. "I would eat you _bite by bite_." A final clack of teeth accentuating her statement caused Akko's legs to give out.

" _Metamorphie Faciesse!"_ She whispered in panic, transforming into a small fluffy rabbit to make her landing soft. Dazed from the fall, Akko couldn't avoid the alchemist's grasp and was scooped up by the scruff of her neck. "Oi! Let me go!" She shouted, uselessly struggling to escape.

Sucy cackled at her, nuzzling her nose against Akko's whiskers. "No way~ You're too fluffy~ I'm gonna hold you for a while." Bundling the small creature into her arms, Sucy wandered back to the bench and took a seat. "Besides, you've been at it for hours, it's time for a break."

Akko's grumpy expression lessened as she felt gentle strokes to her head. Sucy was looking up at darkening skies, hugging the witch turned rabbit like a stuffed animal, petting the back of her head absentmindedly. "You did good today." She started, lovely porcelain face soft, her eyes kind. "Every time we do this you get better and better."

Akko felt her face warm, human tendencies leaking through into her current form. Praise from Sucy was rare and brunette doe soaked it up; she always craved more, addicted to the warmth and pride that filled her heart.

Sucy suddenly grinned, huffing half of a giggle. "Soon I won't be able to tease you about how much you suck." She took a floppy ear between her index and middle finger, stroking it from base to tip. "I should make the most out of it, hey?"

The stroking of her sensitive ears caused Akko's face to scrunch, though Sucy's gentle tone and praise kept her from puffing up indignantly. "I guess so." She recognized, her mind's eye showing images of herself as moonlight witch, all of her friends looking on with pride. "I'm gonna be such a good witch, even you won't be able to ignore it!"

"Then you'd better get ssstarted..." Suddenly Akko found herself wrapped up in the coils of a large serpent, squeezing tightly around her tiny frame. Following the expanse of scales up towards the head, the red eye of Sucy looked back, wide predatory smile showing off a dangerous set of fangs.

"SSSShow me how good you've gotten Akko.. " She goaded, hissing violently at the small rodent. "But be fassst... I'm jussssst sssstarving..."

With a yelped spell and a puff of smoke, Akko turned both girls back to normal, plopping back into Sucy's non-reptilian lap. The alchemist cackled, hugging Akko tightly. "Your face!" She giggled, snuggling into her love's shoulder. "You're so ridiculous."

Akko flushed with embarrassment, puffing her pink cheeks and hugging herself. "I transformed us both back on the first try. Nothing to say about that?" She was rather pleased with her accomplishment, two transformations at the same time was not an easy thing to do.

A soft kiss against her neck brought her attention down to Sucy, who pulled back, smiling lovingly. "You did very well under pressure Akko." The familar addictive warmth filled Akko's heart, and she flushed even further.

"Now come on." She started, standing up and dumping Akko off into the grass. "I really am quite hungry."

The predatory edge returned as Sucy loomed over her love's dazed form.

"You're tasty and all, but I want to save you for _desert_."

* * *

 ** _A/N: Sucy bad. No vore. Not allowed._**

 ** _This time we see a bit of how Sucy sees that first day, and how she sees Akko's unrivaled determination._**

 ** _Akko is really amazing as a main character, not particularity skilled in anything but filled to the brim with sheer drive. That main theme to the show and to Akko's character is quite inspiring: You can do anything if your believing heart wishes it, but you have to have to put in the work. A mountain isn't scaled in a day; no matter how hard that climb gets, push forward and one day you'll find yourself on top._**

 ** _I used to be very ill, and missed out on a lot of stuff, fell behind numerous grades from simply being unable to get out of bed. Akko's journey and what she learns about having a dream and what you need to make that dream real, really speaks to me. I was always kicking myself for falling behind, moving too slowly, though it was nobody's fault especially not mine. But realizing that a dream doesn't come true in a week or a day, and feeling proud of my own progress was the first big step in climbing out of some pretty serious depression._**

 ** _Anyway blah blah blah sob story blah._**

 ** _Sucy being proud of her little guinea pig makes me fuckign emotional, and I loved writing this chapter because of it._**

 ** _I hope you loved it too! Tell me how it was!_**


	11. Cuddlefluff

_**A/N: The writers block is back, therefore today is another dose of sleepy time fluff. It's like when a game company is out of ideas and decides to reboot a series, boiling it down to its core elements. That's what this is. Cuddle fluff is my core element.**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you very much my dearest friend (^_^) I'm glad you were able to overcome it. I will be free of it one day as well, I promise you that.**_ _ **White_Wolffang's bunny!Akko is one of my favourites, bonus points for wolf!Sucy in the same image. Thank you so much for your continued reviews my treasured friend!**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: It absolutely feels like a natural progression to their relationship; as I've mentioned before, having someone you have a major crush on doing experiments on you is bound to cause some interesting correlation in your mind. I'm glad you enjoyed! Thank you very much!**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this most basic of cuddle fluff.**_

* * *

When all was said and done, Atsuko was absolutely exhausted, and with the help of her friends stumbled into the dormroom. Despite her disqualification from the competition, she was content. Vajarois had been freed, and everyone saw her do it; Diana, Professor Ursula, even the judges seemed impressed.

Sucy plopped the brunette down onto her bed, stretching upward in a catlike manner, watching Lotte stumble up her ladder and crash facefirst into the pillow. "I don't care what those stuffy hags said, we should have won." Though it was a fun experience, it stung a little that Akko didn't get the award she deserved.

After tearing her own bolo off of her neck, Sucy knelt down to free the brunette's neck from its prison. Her belt and tunic were removed as well, forgotten on the floor until morning.

"It wasn't the best transformation show, but you did well." She murmured, unbuttoning Akko's collar and shirt. "Mm.. thanks." Her love was docile, responding sleepily to the light touches; humming with glee.

"Let's get you out of this, I'm about ready to be dead to the world." It had certainly been a day, and Sucy was exhausted both mentally and physically; wishing to just lay down next to her love and sleep.

Tossing a fresh set of clothes into Akko's face, the alchemist turned away, searching around for her silk nightdress. "Put these on without my help, I can't always be your babysitter." She teased lightly, opening a few drawers and digging through them.

It didn't take long, the beautiful cream gown was folded neatly in the dresser, her cotton nightcap sitting on top. The alchemist quickly removed her own uniform happily, gifting her porcelain skin with the softness of silk. "Ahh much better." She sighed, running a hand down her side.

Akko, it seemed, was not having as much ease. Sucy looked back over her shoulder to see the brunette struggle, attempting to shove her head through an arm hole. "Are you serious?" She chided, yanking the baggy white shirt off of the girl's body.

Sucy's eyes were immediately drawn to her love's bare left shoulder, the ring of teeth marks healing with time. ' _It's fading.._ ' A voice in the back of her head whispered excitedly. ' _You should fix that.'_

Sucy felt fire creep up her spinal column, a heat settling around her collarbones. She heavily enjoyed seeing the mark, it satisfied a dark part of her brain and a possessive part of her heart. Her tongue pressed against the back of her teeth, moving as she looked at each corresponding wound. _'Come on...'_ The voice goaded. _'She's yours... it's your right..'_

"Sucy?" Atsuko's voice shook the alchemist out of her reverie, sitting sheepisly on the bed, shirtless. "It's a bit cold." She murmured, focusing hard on a speck of dirt near Sucy's feet.

Sucy felt the fire in her collar travel upward, looking away bashfully and holding the shirt out over Akko's head. "Arms up."

She was obedient, letting Sucy drop the baggy shirt over her, puffing the tufts of brown hair out of her eyes once her head was through. There was a moment of silence afterword, the two simply locking eyes, Akko shuffling further towards the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" The pink haired witch questioned, halting Akko's movement with a finger between her eyebrows. Akko closed an eye, cringing at the sudden acute pressure, yawning through her words. "Going to my bed."

Sucy chuckled, grinning impishly down at the exhausted girl.

"You can't even put on a shirt by yourself." She pointed out, pushing Akko's forehead harder with a finger; causing the witch to fall backward onto the bed. "You think I can trust you to walk all the way to your bed? No, you're staying right here tonight."

With a flip of the covers, Akko was sent rolling up towards the pillows as the blankets came back down on top of her. "You stay and get comfy, I'll be back in a minute." Sucy declared with a squeeze of the girl's knee, picking up her toothbrush and heading for the bathrooms.

When she returned to the room with a mouth fresh and minty, the lights were lower than before. Akko had curled herself up in the blankets and was breathing slow and light, closed eyes facing the rest of the room. She had left ample room beside her for the alchemist to join, the blanket folded back in that spot.

Releasing her burden, Sucy glided over to her bed, taking a seat on the edge. Akko's peaceful face had crumpled as a strand of hair tickled her eyes, and Sucy reached out, tucking the chocolate locks behind her ear. The sleeping girl hummed at the familiar gentle touch, snuggling into Sucy's palm with a tiny smile.

Sucy lived for these moments of quiet, being next to her guinea pig while she slept, watching her eyelids shift as she dreamt. It allowed her time to just sit and stare, filling her head with thoughts of love and affection;

Sucy pulled her hand away to stifle her sudden yawn, remembering her absolute exhaustion. Carefully crawling over her love as to not disturb her, the alchemist slotted in behind the slumbering girl, making sure the blanket covered them both sufficiently.

Hugging Akko's waist and pulling her close, Sucy snuggled into her neck, breathing deep in contentment. The markings on the girl's neck were visible, her shirt shifting as she slept. _'Yours...'_ The voice in her head prodded, causing Sucy's mouth to open, tongue trailing across her fangs.

Bringing herself close to the mark, she hovered her teeth over the healing wounds; holding them there and resisting the urge to clamp down hard. Atsuko, in her slumber, subconsciously craned her neck at the puffs of hot hair, giving the alchemist further access. _'She's offering it to you, see? Go ahead...'_

 _'Akko's an idiot, and asleep. That doesn't count.'_ She resisted, peppering the area with kisses instead to appease her love's sleepy desires. A small sound of pleasure was her reward as the gentle kisses lulled Akko into deep dreaming sleep; one of Akko's hands coming down to cover her own across her stomach.

 _'Now buzz off. I'm gonna enjoy this and no one is going to stop me.'_

The comfort and warmth of the body in her arms began dragging Sucy into oblivion, black tendrils of exhaustion wrapping around her mind. Before the darkness took her, Sucy managed one last kiss, a sleepy murmur of love trailing off as she faded away.

"Love you..."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I have diabetus now. Writing cuddlefluff is always simple and gives me cavities in the process. Also some added Sucy inner turmoil! Because I can't help myself, possessive Sucy is my favourite thing.**_


	12. Drowning

**_A/N: Welcome back my friends! This time we have some_** _ **angst and anxiety attacks with a bit of** _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). **_Because I guess that's what my brain feels like. This was very easy to write, and is therefore a few hundred words longer than usual updates._**

 ** _A Potato: Ahh my lovely loyal potato friend. Thank you very much for your kind words and suggestions. I shall see them turned into something in the future, there are already gears turning in my head!_**

 ** _Queen Sydon: Aww I hope my sugary little fic helped you sleep well! Also thanks for the suggestion you may or may not have sparked this entire chapter. lel._**

 ** _Magicantix: DUDE HEY JULIET IS THE FUCKING SHIT. That AMV is what finally goaded me into writing fic for these two. I've watched it like 64 times, its amazing._**

 ** _Right? "My mind's telling me nooooo~ BUT MY HEART IS TELLIN ME YEEESSS~" Thank you very much my friend!_**

 ** _DuwangChew: Aw Thanks! My Sucy can basically be boiled down to: Smol bean who doesn't understand how emotions or relationships work but occasionally gets it right._**

 ** _Thank you all so much for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

* * *

Sucy was on edge. Every little noise and everyone she saw made it worse: the sound of birds, the laughter of other witches, their smiling happy faces.

The scrabbling of voices in her mind had become louder and louder by the day, wild like the ocean, threatening to swallow her whole. Amidst the chaos, Sucy found herself standing closer to Akko than usual, holding her tight, glaring at anyone who passed by. _'They're trying to steal her from you...'_ The voices say, goading her anger to a boil. ' _Protect what's yours...'_

During class, she would reach for Akko's hand, grasping tightly to her fingers. The brunette could sense her growing tension and began rubbing soothing circles wherever she could. The alchemist was afraid to let go, once she had nothing to hold onto, she would drown.

Within the tempest of her mind, a single tiny voice spoke different to the sea of malicious shouting. ' _Please Sucy, stay strong!'_ It cried, struggling against the waves. ' _No one could ever steal her from you!'_ But the tsunami of aggression swept it away.

The day was a blur of red wrath, locking eyes with every person who even looked her way. There must have been something awful in her glare, as they all widened their eyes before quickening their pace to get away. **"Good."** She heard herself mumble. " **Back off...** " Malice dripped from her tongue, poisoning her words, like it did whenever Akko was in actual trouble.

 _'But she isn't in trouble is she!'_ The little girl tried, head poking above the water with a gasp, choking on the black water filling her lungs.

"Sucy?" Akko sounded severely concerned, squeezing the alchemist's hand lovingly. "Is everything alright?" Those big beautiful red eyes bored into her, patiently waiting for an answer, forehead creased in worry. ' _No, nothing is alright. It won't be alright until you are_ _ **mine.**_ ' One of the waves answered in her head, sounding disturbingly like herself.

"I'm fine." She accidentally snapped, regretting it immediately, seeing her love jump like she had been struck with a burn.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry." Akko stuttered, shifting to remove her hand. "I was j-just wor-"

"No. Don't be." The witch interrupted, reaffirming her grip and squeezing back softly. "I'm not feeling the best today, forgive me." It wasn't the whole truth, but wasn't a lie either.

Akko frowned, squeezing the alchemist in a soft hug. Sucy smelt rather nice today, the girl noticed, whatever potions she had been messing around with were certainly winners in her book. "Is there anything I can do?" She asked, lip pouting cutely.

"Just stay with me today." Was the reply, Sucy wrapping an arm around her waist.

It came to a head after class that day, the typhoon of malice and hate absorbing her mind as she stood near the windows. Akko was not at her side, having just gotten out of her class, and the little girl that kept her grounded was nowhere to be found.

She was alone and drowning.

' _Akko's not coming..._ ' They goaded like little piranhas, biting at her heels as she struggled to stay above the surface, desperately reaching up towards the sky. ' _Someone has stolen her..._ ' Another bit into her. ' _You lost your chance...'_

She felt the anger bubble over as she stomped down the hall, her face was stone cold, making the crowds part around her in fear. If Akko wasn't coming, she would go to her.

It wasn't hard, Akko was a naturally loud girl, even more so when she was arguing with someone. "Everyone knows I would have won if the stupid rules didn't get in the way!" She was leaning forward into Diana's face shouting loudly with gusto. Diana was not pleased. "But alas, Miss Kagari, you did break the rules. And rules are what separates Luna Nova from your precious Chariot's street magic!"

Hannah and Barbara paled when they saw her coming, taking a step back to hide behind the platinum blonde. A malicious fire burnt cold in the alchemist's chest at the sight of Diana's calm collected expression.

 _'Destroy her!_ ' The waters sang. ' _How dare she stand so close to our possession!'_ It took all of her remaining willpower to ignore the song, grabbing Akko harshly by the arm as she passed by.

The noble witch opened her eyes, frowning at Sucy's retreating form. "Excuse me, we were in the middle of a conversation." She admonished, gripping Atsuko by the wrist and forcing the pair to halt. "That is awfully rude."

Sucy's neck snapped nearly all the way around, icy stare of death boring into the Cavendish heir, cracking her usually calm mask.

 **"Conversation's over."**

The shock from the alchemist's dark tone was enough for Diana to loose grip on the girl's wrist. "V-Very well." She stuttered slightly before recovering. "We shall continue another time, Akko."

But the two witches were already gone.

"Sucy!" The brunette objected as she was dragged along. "What was that all about? I was gonna really dig into her!" Sucy stopped suddenly, the force of her grip causing Akko to stumble forward into her back.

"I don't want you talking to her." She spat, head turned to glance over her shoulder.

Atsuko's brow sank downward with a frown, pressing a fist into her hip. "We're rivals! How am I supposed to argue with her if I can't-"

" **Do as I say.** " Sucy interrupted with a growl, tightening her grip on Akko's wrist.

The brunette jumped, eyes blowing wide. Something was terribly wrong, Sucy had never once used that malicious, toxic tone against her. "S-Sucy..?"

Sucy's eyes were dull and burdened, full of guilt, though she kept quiet. She started walking again, faster this time, tugging the other witch through the halls.

Their friends' faces lit up at their approach, before being shoved out of the way by the steamroller that was Sucy. "Akko!" She heard Lotte cry out, turning to see their bespeckled friend being held back by Jasminka and Constanze. All she could do was offer an apologetic smile as she disappeared around the corner.

As soon as they burst through the door of their room, Akko felt herself being pressed back against the wood. Slim fingers ripped through her tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons of her shirt, causing a red fire to flow upward from her collar.

Her neck quivered in fear at the closeness of her friend's sharp fangs, hovering just above their earlier claim in anticipation.

"S-Sucy!" She cried, feeling the alchemist's hot breath against her neck. "W-What's g-going on?"

A pale fist slammed into the door next to her head, making her recoil. "I- I don't know!" Sucy's voice was low and grumbly, yet panicked, filled with fear and remorse. "I need to- I'm sorry I..."

Akko took a deep breath in understanding, steadying her racing heart and bring a hand up to stroke the alchemist's purple locks. "It's okay Sucy, go ahead..." She felt her heart and mind finally reconcile; she adored Sucy, loved her and everything that entailed. Anything her love needed, she would have.

"I'm all yours."

That was all Sucy needed. Opening her maw once more- hesitating for just a second -she sank her teeth deep into the girl's neck, feeling the dark waters ignite like oil. Burning away the anxiety, the anger, every single one of those horrible voices and filling her with warmth.

The nearly healed previous mark gave way under her fangs, sweet metallic taste flowing across her tongue, cementing itself as a feature on Akko's skin. It would most certainly scar, and the though made her quite happy. 'All yours' she had said, giving herself up with a smile.

 _'She loves you... That's what I was trying to say...'_ The little girl had returned, and Sucy felt her psyche strengthen with each word of reassurance. _'She would never let herself be stolen by anyone other than you.'_

Akko expected pain, that was a given to having your skin torn through; what she didn't expect was how wonderful it felt afterword. Adoring kisses soothed her skin, all of Sucy's attention and love directed at her, a gentle hand holding her neck on the opposite side so she could relax.

She hummed in pleasure, letting the alchemist know she was doing a good job.

Sucy's kisses trailed around across the brunette's jaw, placing a single peck on her throat; dropping her head to rest it on Akko's chest. "I'm sorry..." She murmured. "It was just too much without you there."

The anxiety, the internal voices and feelings that clawed at her constantly, turned her into something horrible. She hoped their friends would understand.

"No matter where I am, standing next to you or a mile away, I am always thinking about you." Akko confessed, bright beaming smile casting its warm rays on her cold skin. "That's what this is for, right?" Sucy's gaze was brought to the red ring, marked deep into her love's skin. The sight satisfying something primal and raw within her heart.

"A reminder that there's someone waiting for me to come back."

* * *

 ** _A/N: Weeee anxietyyyyy. Shit sucks. For me personally it manifests as a sudden irritation or anger; like little creatures nipping at you. So perhaps this chapter is a venting of what that feels like to me, with added_** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ** _because fanfiction._**

 ** _Also a little bit of fluffiness at the end there. A bit of a reassurance to Sucy, that she is always going through someone's mind, and could never be replaced. My Sucy, with all of her abandonment issues certainly needs that._**

 ** _Anyhoo next time will be some more fluff. Because my brain is telling me "DO A PICNIC YOU SHIT. IT'LL BE FUCKIGN CUTE." therefore I must obey._**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed friends!_**


	13. Bunch of Rowdy Kids

_**A/N: Holy moly my dudes, writers block fuckin sucks. But I'm proud to say I met both of my quotas! Here's that picnic I promised, with a whole lot of sugary fluff. I apologize for any diabetic comas that may follow.**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you my dearest friend! Suggestions are always always welcome, they help immensely with the whole writers block shizz. As a sufferer of anxiety myself I thought my particular kind to fit Sucy's character rather well. I'm glad you think so too!**_

 _ **Magicantix: Hahah! Don't you worry my friend, I will only ever tease with**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) **_content. I hope you find this chapter sufficient in its fluffiness! Thank you so much for the review!_**

 ** _Guest: If you're looking for more_** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ** _my boi Barnable has what u need._**

 ** _DuwangChew: Thank you friend! It was a very fun perspective for me to write, and very personal to how I feel about my own anxiety. I like to think most of the student body is rather afraid of Sucy when she's in a bad mood. It's probably for the best, as our mushroom lover has the potential to be incredibly dangerous._**

 ** _Baka-Akko: Hah, well to be fair Dianna was rather bitchy at the beginning, which is why it's so satisfying to see her grow throughout the show and become a true friend to all of the witches. Thank you my friend!_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy the sugar my friends! Remember to brush your teeth!_**

* * *

Summer was ending. September was nearly through, signalling the earth's drift into cold slumber. Skies of grey were becoming more and more common as the sun made itself a rarity. Steadily for weeks now, the temperature dropped lower and lower, only spiking up on those rare days of golden bliss.

It was on one of these blissful days of blue sky and green grass that Atsuko decided to make the most of the waning season. "A picnic!" She cried, beaming widely at her friends, the bright shining sun in her mouth warming them all. "We can all bring something and just enjoy ourselves!"

They now sat together under a mighty oak tree, enjoying the warm breeze and the waning colours of life; all manners of food sprawled out on the blanket beneath them. Fresh fruit from Lotte, exotic chocolates from Jasminka, even a full fresh loaf of bread made specially by Constanze in her custom oven.

The girls were quite into the idea, exhausted with the end of semester grind and ready for some relief. Sucy took a bit more convincing however, grumpy as she is, though nothing a few cheeky kisses from her love couldn't fix.

Akko giggled, remembering the alchemist's pink flush and bashful expression. "You're cute when you blush." She teased, reaching up to lay a peck on the bottom of her love's pale chin.

Sucy's grip around her waist tightened, a grumbled murmur escaping her lips. "Shut up..." A single pickled plum was dangled above her mouth like a dog treat, teasing her with the deliciousness so close yet so far away. She could feel a tiny droplet of drool slide down her chin, a rumble of laughter vibrating through the body behind her.

"You'd do anything for one of these wouldn't you?" Sucy chuckled, at long last letting the brunette take a bite when she nodded furiously. "Good to know... They may be useful to tempt you into more volunteering."

Akko's betrayed expression was priceless, horrified at such a wonderful thing being used for evil. Sucy cackled, hugging her dear guinea pig tight; kissing her twice on the cheek once the giggles subsided.

The alchemist simply relaxed there, taking in the simple pleasure of having the one she loved so close. There was a warmth in her chest as Akko sat there in between her legs, a hand over her own on the girl's stomach as she leaned back against her chest. Memories returned to that movie night, where their roles were reversed; how happy that night and subsequent morning made her.

' _Isn't it wonderful to be in love?~_ ' The little girl sang, reveling in the warmth as much as her much larger version. She had to admit, letting go was one of the best decisions she's ever made.

"Sucy!" Akko called, preventing the alchemist from responding to herself properly. "You need to eat too." The bubbly brunette turned in her grip, holding a few strawberries in one hand and a single berry in the other, offered in front of her face. "No biting this time!"

Sucy giggled, moving her grip to hold the girl's waist with both hands as she knelt in front of her. Her shark toothed maw opened wide, chomping twice for good measure, a long expectant sound flowing from her throat.

The sweet berry moved just a tad closer and immediately had a large portion bitten out, only barely missing the brunette's fingers. Akko, not wishing to risk her fingers further, popped the rest of the strawberry into her own mouth, getting a replacement from her other hand.

"Oi! You're stealing my sustenance!" Sucy complained, faking a big lipped pout.

Akko lifted a single finger and booped it against the alchemist's pale nose, making the pout real. "It's called sharing Sucy!" She teased, shifting her position to Sucy's lap, legs draping over the witch's covered knees.

"And you know what they say~" She sang, resting her head on Sucy's shoulder with a bright smile. "Sharing is caring! And you care about me, don't yoooou?~"

Sucy mumbled grumpily in agreement, a light tint of red staining her face. Akko was being far too smooth today, confidence from an unknown source powering her advances.

"Open up!" Another strawberry was held out in front of Sucy's face, jabbing her in the lip a few times. The alchemist begrudgingly took bite, watching as Akko swallowed down the rest.

"Toss us some of that chocolate!" She suddenly called to the girls, giving a thumbs up when the bag's trajectory came to rest in Akko's lap. Her sweet tooth was acting up and demanded sugar- of the food variety, kissing Akko wouldn't fix this. Not this time.

Atsuko was just about to stick her hand into the bag in order to satisfy the potion master's cravings, but Sucy stopped her. "Clean that strawberry juice off before you contaminate the bag, you barbarian." She chastised, grabbing the girl's wrist, kissing and licking the juice off of her fingers. "Mmm, _sweet_."

Akko's face burnt completely red, horrified expression frozen on her face. Her brain filled with images not suitable for some audiences, making her burn hotter and redder. "S-Sucy..."

The alchemist's sly set of shark teeth twinkled in the summer sun, her eyes creased in impish joy. "What's wrong?" She asked in faux innocence, fluttering her eyelashes. "We're just eating chocolate."

A snort broke the tension, Amanda's smug grin leaking into her words. "Seems Akko wants you to eat something else."

"Amanda! _Rude!_ " Lotte flushed, chiding her friend's filthy tongue. Sucy however, reveled in her love's tomato red face, cackling loudly.

She stood, lifting Akko up into a bridal carry, grinning even wider when the girl covered her face with her hands. "You're gonna have to wait, little guinea pig, I'm hungry for something else."

Akko looked down in her lap and then back up to her snake of a crush. Her mouth was open expectantly, still waiting for that chocolate, pleased smile pushing her cheeks up against her eyes.

Grasping the bag for a moment, Akko picked up a piece, looking like she was moving to feed it to the pale girl. She instead suddenly wiggled out of Sucy's arms onto the grass, scrambling to her feet and running a distance away. "If you want it, you're gonna have to catch me!" She teased, waving the chocolate up in the air.

Sucy's shocked expression melted into a predatory grin and she chuckled, crouching down like a cheetah, preparing to strike. "You wanna play that game, Akko? Alright."

And then she sprung, chasing her love across the fields.

The other girls simply watch as this all unfolded, laughing when Sucy missed a pounce, cheering when Akko was finally pinned to the ground.

"You know." Amanda started, crunching on a bag of chips from her relaxed position against Jasminka's back. "They should just stop beating around the bush and make out."

Constanze nodded, watching her two Stanbots act out what such a scene would look like.

Lotte sat and watched with a warm smile, laughing when Akko tried to bat the other witch over the head with the chocolate bag. "Love isn't something you can force. They'll find their own way eventually."

' _But.._ ' Lotte conceded, watching her two friends goof around. ' _Perhaps they could use a little push.'_

* * *

 ** _A/N: You know, sometimes I forget what I write in the labyrinth of my mind. Which sometimes sucks. A plus tho is that I get to read my own shit and have the same experience as you all. So that's fun._**


	14. Mission Accomplished

_**A/N: Fluff, More of it. With added hijinx from Lotte. She takes the romance of others very seriously.**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: Thank you very much my friend! I get the same feeling whenever I see a new review from one of you! And to answer your question, A Rose in Winter updates alongside every other Day after Day chapter (every eight days!)**_

 ** _A Potato: Potato my dearest friend! I hope you have more insulin available, because this chapter is more of that. Sugar and fluff. And oh yes, Amanda knows lots of things. Thank you so much!_**

 ** _Magicantix: Wowie! I'm glad to know my fluff has miraculous healing abilities! It always makes me smile to know my fluff can make someone else smile too. Thank you so much my friend!_**

 ** _DuwangChew: Of course, flip flopping Akko is the greatest._**

 ** _I hope you enjoy more sugar!_**

* * *

It was just the two of them, which was usually a good thing for Sucy; time alone with her dearest one. But the little girl in her head seemed quite perturbed at the complete absence of their friends. Each of them were present for class, and talked with her as normal, but as soon as the bell rang for lunch they were nowhere to be found.

 _'Perhaps it doesn't matter'_ She thought, glancing over to the side at her love; she could use some alone time with Akko after all of the excitement and group gatherings. Silently she blindly reached her fingers towards the brunette's, feeling a small smile grow on her face when both pairs linked together.

Looking up at Akko, she found her smile reflected in bright beaming sunshine. Akko's smile was always a magnificent thing, shining like stars in the dark, warming anyone who was caught in her loving glow.

She felt that warmth within her now, a gentle heat, like sitting in front of a fire on a cold winter night.

 _'Love._ ' The child in her brain helpfully pointed out. ' _Your love for her._ ' And Sucy new it was true. She loved Atsuko Kagari with all her heart, this she had come to terms with long ago. But a nagging feeling had been growing for weeks now, something the little girl wanted but would not say.

 _'Maybe it's time to tell her._ ' It seemed to say. _'She knows already, but to hear it from your lips is something special._ ' Was she ready? So many hurdles to their relationship had already been passed, and there was little separating them from any other couple. Perhaps it was time to-

"Watch out!"

Instinct caused Sucy to yank her darling's hand, pulling the brunette into her chest protectively as a a troll came crashing down in front of them, centimeters from smashing Akko into a pancake.

Sucy looked around the giant beast from her stationary position, for the cause of its stumble. On the ground a banana peel had been carefully and purposely placed, similar to a prank she had once pulled on Akko. ' _Someone tried to hurt us. Hurt_ _ **my**_ _guinea pig.'_

She felt her eye twitch, protective instincts igniting a cold fire in her chest. Akko- seemingly sensing this fire from her position squished into the alchemist's collar -looked up, eyes wide in confusion, like a small woodland creature.

Sucy loosened her grip just a bit to allow Akko to wiggle and turn around enough to see, still keeping a steady hold on the girl just in case. The ogre was in the middle of standing up, grimacing at the fissures made in the floor tiles; a very irritated noise escaped through mangled teeth when the cause of the slip was explained by nearby students.

"Who would do that?" Akko wondered, relaxing into her love's chest. "You've been with me the whole time..."

A true statement; the alchemist had been very good for the past month, cutting back on the pranks by a large percentage. "I'm not sure.."

The answer- or answers -watched from around the corner as the two witches stood there embracing. "Don't you think that was a bit much? You could have gotten her crushed!" The taller ginger questioned with a whisper, a concerned grimace showing her apprehension.

"Sucy would never let that happen, she's too quick. This was the best way to the result we wanted." The smaller redhead replied, keeping her eyes focused on the couple. Sucy's hands had migrated downwards to rest around the brunette's hips, the girl's arms looping around her neck.

" _The ends justify the means._ " Lotte whispered, mischievous eyes vanishing behind the sheen of her glasses when she pushed them up her nose.

"We should get to the lunchroom, the line is probably crazy right now and will only get worse." Sucy suggested, releasing hold on her love and instead offering a hand. A sudden growl proved her point, causing an airy snort to escape from her throat.

"You didn't eat any of the waffles Lotte brought in this morning did you?" Akko shrunk back sheepishly, avoiding the pink haired witch's raised eyebrows. Sucy made a point of nagging her about her habits: 'Have you eaten yet today?' or 'You've studied enough its time to go to bed.' It was nice to know she cared, but that disappointed expression hurt something inside her physically.

"Of course not." The alchemist sighed, offer of a hand turning into a demand for one. "Come on."

Atsuko slumped her shoulders, giving up her wrist for Sucy to yank and drag her down the hall. Almost instantly they were off, Sucy's invisible feet gliding gracefully across the tile.

Graceful was a word Akko often linked with her shroom loving friend; not in the typical sense, like a dancer or gazelle, no. Sucy moved like a snake, curling and weaving around obstacles with incredible control, quick bursts of speed following the slight slowdown of a turn.

The correlation reminded Akko of a dream she had after practicing shape shifting with her friends. _A serpentine Sucy curling around her body, wrapping around her neck just tight enough to restrict air flow by a small amount. And those teeth, wonderful teeth, so close to her jugular made her-_

"Akko. Take the plate." The alchemist's voice shook Akko from her heated daydream, her slightly raised tone suggesting previous attempts to break through the haze. Sucy held out a full plate of different potato based foods, two juice boxes in her other hand.

"Where's your food?" The brunette questioned, raising her brow and looking at the serving staff. They were all too busy filling hotplates or helping in the back to notice her.

"They just ran out, but I'm not that hungry anyway." Sucy explained, setting a gentle hand against her lower back and leading her away from the counter to an empty table. "We can share."

It was just the two of them, sitting side by side, silently enjoying eachother's company. Sucy found it strangely satisfying to feed her dearest personally, forking a few hashbrowns and hovering the morsel in front of Akko's lips. This way she could be one hundred percent certain of how much Akko had eaten and make sure it was enough to last her until class was finished.

It was also quite fun to dangle the food in front of the girl's mouth, pulling it away when she went to bite. Akko's betrayed face made her chuckle, a genuine smile filling the laughter with honey rather than poison.

"I love you a ton." She blurted out, like it was the most natural thing in the universe, and before her brain even caught up with her mouth, Akko's beaming smile snuffed out any chance of regret.

"I love you mooooore~" She sang, a tiny pink blush tinting her cheeks as they pushed upwards into her eyes. And from there they continued, Sucy forking another helping of potato based food item and chomping down, trying to interrupt the wide smile that had taken over her face.

 _'Ahh the wonders of mutual love~_ ' The little girl sighed, and the alchemist, in her haze could only agree.

Watching the scene from afar and listening in, Constanze sank back into her chair, a palm against her heart. "What happened Constanze?" Lotte desperately asked, pressing her hands down into the table with force.

The tiny German gave a thumbs up with her free hand, attempting to still her beating heart with the other. "Beautiful." Was all she said, eyes glazing over.

Lotte did a tiny dance in her chair, trying to contain her squeals. "Perfect plan, perfect day~"

"Where did all that food we stole go anyway?" Amanda questioned, not taking her eyes off the distant couple. Lotte's heinous plan could've gotten them in serious trouble, and the redhead wanted to make sure all loose ends were tied up.

The smaller ginger was too busy dancing to answer, and Constanze was in a similar joy based coma. It came down to Jasminka, who with a simple pat of her stomach and a widening of her grin told Amanda everything she needed to know.

"Well then. Mission Accomplished I guess."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Mission Accomplished, indeed. Maaaaaaaaaan, shits too cute, thats all I can say. The chocolate I eat at this moment is no sweeter than this mess I just spat out.**_

 _ **This chapter really brings me back to how my own relationship transitioned from friends to couple. It was super gradual, so much so that we don't even have a set anniversary date, we just use the day we met.**_

 _ **The 'love you's just started happening, and I can never pinpoint a specific time that it felt like "Yeah we're in a relationship now."**_

 _ **Anyway that's the thought process behind this. Maybe if we had meddling friends like Lotte to push us a bit it would have happened sooner, but hey.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed!**_


	15. Room 666

**_A/N: Welcome back to another exciting edition of fluff. I was having issues with deciding on what to write, so this happened instead. But be not afraid my friends I have ideas for the next two chapters._**

 ** _A Potato: I'm glad you enjoyed my dear friend! Sucy being the responsible one is always my favourite, mainly because she normally doesn't give a shit about anything unless its about her friends. And indeed my friend more schemes are coming, and are here because this chapter is also a Lotte brand scheme. Thank you so much!_**

 ** _Magicantix: Rest in fuckign pieces Constanze, died from fluff overdose. But our lord and saviour Jasminka shall retrieve her soul for us. Thank you Jasminka._**

 ** _Queen Sydon: Constanze is me. I can't count how many times I've reread my own chapter and other peoples stuff and just died of fluff. Thank you so much my friend, I will cherish it forever._**

 ** _Erin Tesden: Thank you friend! It's a wonderful intimate gesture that I felt just fit._**

 ** _ThatFanFicGuy: Hey thats fine my friend! As long as you enjoy yourself! I just enjoy hearing people's reactions to my stuff. Thank you very much for the review! I will write my hardest!_**

 ** _I hope you all enjoy this chapter, its a little bit longer than usual!_**

* * *

The fog of unconsciousness parted, blackness melting away to reveal a somewhat familiar landscape of thorns and vines. Akko couldn't remember anything less than a few hours back, the last memory drifting around was a light kiss from Sucy, low loving tone whispering something sweet into her ear.

She stood on a raised platform, the remains of a great tree that must have been choked out long ago by the tangling system of thorns. Following each tendril towards its source, Akko found A large rectangular block of stone, thorns flowing out from its bottom and sides like water from a compressed sponge.

A tiny thing in the back of Akko's head tapped noisily against her brain- there was something important about this block, something soothing and familiar. She pressed her palm softly against the smooth monolith, dragging it left to right across the surface.

It was unexpectedly warm, like the flesh of a living thing.

Boredom got the better of her and she turned, sliding down the stump towards the ground where the bramble began to tangle. Tiny amounts of dirt could be seen inbetween vines where tiny mushrooms grew in peace and quiet, great ferns shooting up to protect them from the harsh sun that shone through the ceiling. Every now and then a beautiful yellow or blue lily sprouted, adding further colour to the mesh of green.

Something inside told her that this place should have been dead and rotten, browns and blacks, but Akko disagreed. This cavern was lovely, surging with life and vigor like the very branches of Yggdrasil, like one of those little pockets of nature, untouched by humanity for thousands of years.

Akko carefully stepped around the spikes, weaving under the more drooping sections; hopping to and from the largest vines that created stable floor beneath her feet. 'Sucy would like this place' She thought, imagining the excitement on her love's face when given a cavern full of new species of fungi.

Eventually lush brambles gave way to modern hardwood flooring, the earthen shades gradually fading to grey and stained mahogany. The door had numerous hardy looking locks and latches attached to it, each of them individually locked from inside the cave.

There was a peephole just above her head, requiring a slight rise of her heels to reach. Taking a quick glace through, Atsuko found a normal hotel or apartment complex, doors lining the walls opposite and presumably parallel to her.

Unlocking each of various devices, Akko quietly opened the door, stepping out into the carpeted hallway. A musty scent hung in the air, similar to that found in libraries, the old burgundy carpet collecting decades of dust and lint.

The entire floor was absolutely silent, only Akko's footsteps and steady breathing broke through the empty soundspace. She didn't call out, not wishing to disturb or anger the other tenants- she had to be respectful.

Rounding the corner and passing by a few potted mushrooms, Akko discovered a set of elevators, neither in use. The doors were covered in a fine brass plating that looked far foggier in some areas, years of acidic fingerprints wearing the polished surface away.

Akko pressed the button firmly and took a step back to admire the details of the hallway, noting how much brass and cream showed up in various pieces, how wild and flashy the designs of the carpet were. It all felt very 80s, like the building her grandmother used to live in.

"Honestly you need to start cutting down on those." Akko's inspection was interrupted by a very familiar voice as the elevator doors opened. "The salt isn't good for you." Two women in their mid 30's stepped out of the elevator with arms full of groceries; their familiar faces made Atsuko's eyes widen.

"But Sucyyy!" The brown haired woman whined, hugging her bag to her chest. "Pickled plums are all I live for! The most beautiful thing in the world!"

An older Sucy rolled her eyes with a smile, chuckling softly. "What am I then? Second fiddle?" Neither of them noticed Akko, phasing right through her body like ghosts.

"You're my wife, that's different than a favourite food." Their voices faded down the hallway, leaving a stunned and blushing brunette, attempting to process the information as she stepped into the elevator.

It all clicked together when Akko entered, a look through the glass back wall of the lift answered just where she was. Endless rolling hills of green, giant mushrooms sprouting up from the ground like trees; the sun sitting high in the clear blue skies, covering the world in a comfortable warmth.

Everything came back to her, the mushrooms, the movies, _the dragon._

She was in Sucy's head. The why could come later, but right now she needed to find the real Sucy and get out, lest something equally as personality threatening occurred.

With a ding, the doors opened into the foyer of the building where multiple Sucies- Sucies? Sucys? -sat around or conversed with eachother. Every single witch continued to ignore her, looking and walking straight through her, save for one.

A younger Sucy poked her head out from behind the front desk, staring straight at her with wide eyes. Alarms in Akko's head went off at memories of a similar child Sucy, memories of turning into a monster and trying to eat the original and most beloved Sucy.

"A-Akko?!" The little girl's face was twisted in confusion as she looked at the brunette, though her eye sparkled with repressed joy: a very similar sparkle Her Sucy shared whenever they were together. "You're not a fantasy. W-What are you doing here? How are you even here?!"

Her sudden talkativeness surprised Akko, the little Sucy she had known barely said a word, yet this one said many all at once, even demanding answers from her.

Everything before the giant stump was fuzzy in her head, perhaps Lotte had performed the same spell to send her into Sucy's dreams, perhaps not. "Uh... The same way I came in last time? I guess?"

"But Sucy _isn't asleep!_ You can't be here!" The tiny Sucy shouted, and Akko blinked twice. Not asleep meant there was no original in here with her, which meant getting out the same as last time was a no go.

"It had to be a similar spell though right? There's only so many spells that get you into someones brain." Surely as a construct of Sucy's psyche, the girl would know how one would escape.

"I don't know." The child admitted, immediately throwing Akko's plan out the window. "I'm not the Sucy who knows spells." The mention of her Sucy designation caused the little girl to clam up, nervously breaking eye contact.

"Then what Sucy are you?" Akko asked, interest piquing. The answer never came up on her last visit and she was honestly quite curious. This seemed a good a time as any to try.

The little girl blushed, fiddling with a strand of her puce purple hair. "I'm one of the more central Sucys..." She explained, the pink of her cheeks spreading throughout her whole face. "I'm the...the Sucy that... L-Loves Akko..." Her stuttered admission ended with a tiny murmur, looking down at the ground and focusing hard on a seam in the tile in her embarrassment.

Akko's eyes shone with warmth, taking in the bashful child's words. This little girl, one of Sucy's most central parts of herself, contained all the love the alchemist felt for her. Every caring touch, every gentle kiss came from this one place.

 _"Cut it out with all those sickly sweet thoughts about her, I need steady hands for this."_

Sucy's voice- the Real Sucy's voice -interrupted the brunette's thoughts. It echoed through the mindscape and caused every lesser Sucy to look up in unison to hear, including the Sucy in front of her.

"It looks like she's kicking you out on her own."

The apartment building fogged around them, shrouding everything in mist. Akko accepted the way out, opening her arms and letting the tendrils of blackness shoot out and grab her. Being within Sucy's head was fun and all, but she would rather be by her side.

"Goodbye little Sucy! Goodbye other Sucies! I love you all!"

The last thing she saw was the little girl waving, her mouth moving but the words just barely reaching Akko's ears.

"We love you too. Always."

Akko suddenly found herself awake in Sucy's bed, the faint smell of exotic herbs tickling her nose. The light coming through the window was a dim white, tiny rays of sun pushing their way through the clouds.

Lotte was sitting at the desk, tapping into her crystal ball, presumably messaging with someone. "Good morning Akko!" Lotte acknowledged the brunette before she even announced her lucid state. "Did you have a good sleep? Dream something nice?"

"Uh..." Well she had a dream absolutely full of Sucy, so nice was underselling it. "Yeah, I did." As she spoke her eyes darted around the room for her love.

Lotte smiled answering the unspoken question that hung in the air. "She said she was going to the greenhouse. Her crop is almost-"

Akko didn't wait for Lotte to finish, leaping out of bed, grabbing a hoodie, and stumbling out the door. If she had waited just a few moments longer, the girl would have seen the sly smile creeping across her ginger friend's lips, her glasses shimmering in the morning light.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Guys. Domestic married life Sukko made my fuckign heart explode. I should write a longer piece just about that.**_

 _ **Anyway this chapter was quite entertaining to write as Sleeping Sucy was my absolute favourite episode!**_

 _ **There are many differences to the dreamscape coinciding with the personal and emotional changes Sucy herself has gone through over the course of this story. Letting Akko in and allowing herself to love someone else and be loved has done a lot for Sucy's mental well being.**_

 _ **I personally went through a similar change as I rose up from the depths of depression. When you're that far in it feels like you are all alone, but realizing that you really aren't, that there are people who love and care about you, people that you never thought cared about you (Like maybe that person you see every day ingame chopping trees) really helps you work your way out.**_

 _ **Like all of you! I value and care for each and every one of my wonderful readers, and I give to you these fluffy morsels in the hopes it makes you smile when things are down.**_

 ** _That's enough out of me for today my friends! I'm going to go work on A Rose in Winter._**


	16. It's never too early

**A/N: Well this happened. And it was fuckign cute. It's very fluffy and flirty with some heartfelt stuffs and a tiny vague amount of character study. All my major hits.**

 **A Potato: Hah! Well this chapter starts out with exactly that! A little more of Sucy dreaming of a life to come~ Thank you very much my friend!**

 **DuwangChew: Thank you my friend! I've always found those old 1980-1990 apartment buildings rather homely and I wanted Sucy's mind to reflect how content she is with her life now; it made the perfect fit!**

 **Magicantix: I'm glad you enjoyed it my dear friend! It was a joy to write in the setting of my favourite episode! And I thoroughly enjoyed staying true to that episode's subtle insights into Sucy's mental state.**

 **Queen Sydon: Ahh! Thank you so much friend! Sucy's brain is sort of where I feel at home writing wise? It's just such a complex yet coherent place with so many little things that all combine together to make up who she is. I could write so much more about how it has changed, and perhaps I will in the future!**

 **I hope you enjoy friends!**

* * *

 _As the credits rolled, Akko applauded, her beaming smile shining bright in the darkened apartment. "That was sooo beautiful!~" She sang, rolling around in her wife's arms to look at her face properly. "I'm glad he found the joy. Everyone deserves to smile!"_

 _Sucy found herself smiling through the tears that threaten to spill over. The movie had hit unexpectedly close to home, tugging at memories of the alchemist's darkest time and subsequent escape._

 _"Aw Sucy..." Akko cooed. "They were both okay with dying; they did everything on the list!" She snuggled her cheek against Sucy's shoulder, kissing the pale girl's throat for good measure._

 _She shook her head, running her fingers through her guinea pig's chocolate locks; careful as to not get any strands caught beneath her ring. "That's not it Akko, I just..." She paused, struggling to elaborate._

 _"I love you so much. Without you I would still be hollow and alone; probably six feet under by now." Like the sun rising after a cold and lonely night, Atsuko Kagari's big dumb smile burnt away the dark._

 _"Sucy..." Arms wrapping around the alchemist's neck, Akko shifted her legs so she sat on her wife's hips. bringing her face closer. Sucy closed her eyes, craning her head forward to capture her love's approaching lips._

"Sucy!"

A whispered yell shredded through the dream and suddenly it was all gone, replaced by the realer surroundings of her shared dorm. Akko was there, bending over her face with a nervous expression, holding her hands to her chest protectively.

She blinked sleepily, staring into the brunette's eyes quietly as a clock ticked in the background. Her gaze subconsciously drifted downward towards Akko's lips as she gnawed, weighing whether or not kissing her at that second would be appropriate.

"What do you want?" The alchemist murmured, internally cringing when it came out more like a growl.

The girl pulled back and hugged herself, standing awkwardly on the cold hardwood. "Lotte has a test in the morning so I didn't want to steal her sleep." Recognizing that her sleep would be taken instead, Sucy began sitting up, a large yawn catching her off guard. "What did you do?"

"I know I..." Akko stumbled as she started, looking away from her dearest to make it easier. "I break a lot of things."

A teasing puff escaped the puce haired witch's nose, her mouth widening into a grin. "You finally noticed? How long did that take?" It probably wasn't kind to make fun- Akko seemed quite distressed -but Sucy needed some sort of payback for being woken up so early.

Her poke went unresponded to, as Atsuko continued explaining. "I-I couldn't sleep because I was panicking. W-What if I break something that m-magic can't fix? O-Or someone g-gets hurt?" The line of thinking was understandable, but Sucy wasn't sure what the conclusion would be.

"IboughtliabilityinsuranceandIneedyoutoflymetotheprintshop."

Sucy blinked slowly, shaking her head while her eyes were closed; trying to decipher the rushed jumble of words that spilled from her love's mouth. "What?"

"I bought liability insurance and I need you to fly me to the print shop." The brunette looked stressed, manic, and incredibly tired. How long had she been awake thinking about this?

Shuffling forward on the bed, Sucy swung her legs over, touching her bare feet down on the cold floor. "Aren't you a little young to be worrying about that kind of stuff?" She was sure there must be some law against highschool kids getting sued for damages.

Akko's face turned serious, her eyelids disappearing up into her socket. "It's never to early to fear legal backlash."

"I suppose." Sucy murmured, standing up to stretch her spine.

"Get into some warmer clothes." She commanded suddenly. "Those shorts are cute and all, but your legs are going to freeze. It's single digits outside."

The brunette seemed quite shocked that Sucy would accept so quickly; it took a few seconds to break before she began nodding vigorously. "Ah- yes! I'll be really quick!"

Silently, the girls slipped out of their pajamas, scrounging around for the thicker tights and sweaters provided by the school. Layer after layer went on until they were safe from the icy death outside.

"Ooh! Sucy!" Akko whispered, pulling out a familiar blue muffler. The alchemist's eyes glazed over as her most cherished memories assaulted her mind.

 _"Ow, ow, ow! So sorry about that..."_

 _"..I was feeling kind of lonely heading to the witch academy all alone."_

 _"I'm Akko!"_

 _"What's your name?"_

Soft fabric against her cheek shook the poison master from her reverie; the blue scarf, now much longer than before, curled around both of their necks comfortably.

Akko stood very close, smiling brightly. "It will be very cold while we're flying, gotta protect our noses!"

Sucy chuckled lightly, leaning in to lay a kiss at the tip of the other witch's nose. "Thank you, Akko."

The moon was still high in the sky when they lifted off the ground, tiny beams of light breaking through the cloud barrier, making it easier to maneuver towards the town.

The two witches sat in their usual positions: Akko up front, Sucy wrapping her arms around from behind. "It's been awhile since we've flown like this." Akko murmured, shuffling back even closer to her dearest's chest; a gentle kiss behind her ear making the brunette's eyes sink closed.

"It's one of the only times I can get you to calm down for more than a minute." Sucy teased, grinning against the girl's ear. "Plus, I love having you somewhere you can't escape from."

The wind blew against Akko's face, but the heavy blush on her face made the cold unnoticeable.

"Are you sure the shop will be open at this hour?" The alchemist inquired, changing the subject before Atsuko could squirm enough to fall off. "I don't want this to be a waste of time."

Ceasing her shuffling and wiggling, Akko gave a firm nod. "Yes. I checked before I woke you up."

'This must be serious for Akko to have thought that far ahead.' Sucy pondered, remembering Akko's nervous mannerisms as she stood in that cold dormroom. Akko was someone who acted on impulse naturally, but seemed different, more manic.

There wasn't much the poison master could do, other than take her where she needed to go and sooth her mind with loving touches- she wasn't a psychologist after all. And as their broom lost power and settled down on the road, she took her guinea pig's hand, squeezing firmly. "Let's be quick about it then yeah? You need to sleep."

The shop was indeed open as Akko had said, a single employee watching television. He seemed rather miffed that anyone would come in and interrupt him so late at night, but Sucy's venomous glare quickly fixed that.

Sucy found herself waiting a while for the twenty or so pages to roll through the printer and halfway through it ran out of paper. The grumbling employee slumped off to get more, leaving the mycophillic witch to glide towards the counter where Akko sat impatiently.

"It's taking too loooooong!" She whined, fingers gripping nothing against the counter, kicking her legs.

"Calm yourself love" Sucy cooed, admiring each little feature of her darling's face. "Just think about what we can do now that we're alone."

Akko began to squirm again as the viper came closer, pale hands slithering up her knees. They slid over and up the girl's thighs to rest against her hips.

"L-Like what, Sucy?" She stuttered, fire scorching up her neck.

Sucy grinned wide as she leaned forward. This was the surefire way to get Akko to forget her troubles. "Something like-"

"Oi! No PDA in the store!" The disgruntled employee shouted, interrupting Sucy's conquest while walking in with a block of paper. "I was just gone for a bit... keep it in your pants, lady."

The purple haired girl scowled, releasing her grasp on a red and shaking Akko, helping her down from the counter to collect the pages as they came through.

"You're free for now, Kagari." She mumbled to the brunette as she shuffled the pages into a neat stack. "But you're sleeping in my bed tonight."

Akko only nodded.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Sucy you can't just bone Akko against a counter in a convenience store, that's illegal. Now go home and cuddle the guinea pig, she needs love and support.**_

 _ **Man it's rare that I surpass my word quota and still have so much more story to write. It was kind of annoying, running out of steam when there's more I want to do, but I'm not gonna deny you guys your biweekly gay.**_

 _ **Also btw this chapter is based on a true story. Lel.**_


	17. You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

_**A/N: Happy November my dear friends! I hope you had a wonderful Halloween! This is sort of a special edition of day after day, at nearly 2000 words It probably should be. A thought got into my head and would not escape, so this very quickly got long.**_

 _ **Despite all this lovely inspiration flow, somehow writers block struck again; I knew exactly what was going to happen and in what order, but no words came out. Because of such awful writers block, A Rose in Winter may or may not be delayed by a day. Apologies.**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you very much dearest friend, I'm so glad you enjoyed! The movie they were watching was actually The Bucket List; a personal favourite of mine. I felt it fit quite well, as the two main characters are polar opposites at the beginning; one grumpy and mean, one very much not. During the last few months of their lives these two characters become close friends, and the grumpy one becomes a far better person by the end.**_

 _ **I'm condensing it heavily but its a very good movie that I recommend.**_

 _ **Magicantix: That's a good suggestion lel. If any of you feel like writing smut based on any of that, fuckign go ahead. I have no ability to write such things.**_

 _ **Thank you so much friend! Hearing such amazing compliments makes me smile; your support means a lot!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Hah, well for all this fluff and loveliness, that's what being in a relationship really entails: Driving to the store at 3 AM because your girlfriend is sick and needs acetaminophen or pads or something. Domestic shit.**_

 _ **Future visions are so easy for me to write, and I love doing it! There will always be more of that coming, friend! Thank you so much!**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: This entire story is basically excerpts from imaginary filler episodes of LWA, so I'm glad it feels like a romcom!**_

 _ **Hah, it basically boils down Akko having some severe anxiety about things that will probably never be relevant. Insurance like the kind she bought is for businesses, to settle suits that usually come up from a fuckup on the job that results in injury. Akko does not own a business, she is basically in highschool. And if she's worried about Luna Nova being sued for her antics, they almost certainly already have such insurance.**_

 ** _Being in a relationship with something who has this kind of anxiety, sometimes all you can really do is help them along with their scheme, help them calm and feel like everything is alright. Things can always be cancelled afterword. Sucy is just being a good not girlfriend! ^.^_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

Excited whispers filled the corridors of Luna Nova, the everyday roar dulling into gentle waves on the shore. Witches giggled in their hushed conversations as they carried streamers, pumpkins, and many other decorations up and down the hall.

Sucy however, was not giggling. The alchemist felt no excitement for such a loud and social function, itching to have her guinea pig's hand in hers. Though in the past few weeks she had been more sociable; going on picnics, hanging out in public places, this was different.

All Hallow's Eve had come and gone, the Sahmain festival concluding successfully, but the witches of Luna Nova still pleaded for more.

A costume ball, like the mortal highschools did every year, was eventually accepted by the faculty; a reward for such an enjoyable festival, and for a fully completed semester.

Akko and Lotte had squealed in joy at the news, excitedly conversing on costume design while Sucy sat curled up on her bed. ' _It will be fun!'_ The little girl in her head pushed, adding with a teasing sing song. ' _You can dance with Akko~'_

She thought about it all day, ferrying decorations to the auditorium, her eyes glazed over in thought. Akko was looking forward to this; the excitement, the colours, the joy on everyone's faces; surely the alchemist's natural pressure would kill the mood, rob her of a fun evening. She wasn't meant to be there.

And so her position stood until that evening, despite Akko and Lotte's pleas and the constant badgering by voices in her head.

When the girls came back from the locker room, Sucy had already tucked in for the night, a thick book opened in her hands. Her constant frown seemed even deeper, like a great weight was pressing down on the witch's shoulders, a nearly visible cloud of gloom hanging over her head.

She kept her nose buried in the pages as they excitedly rushed into the dorm, Akko's loud entertainer's voice praising the little ginger for her craftsmanship. "These turned out so great Lotte! I swear you could work on movies!"

"What do you think Sucy?"

The alchemist's forlorn scowl melted at the sight of her dearest, mouth slightly drifting open as she scanned bottom to top. Sparkling white boots caped with red on the toe and heel; long blue stockings that ran up her legs to rest around the middle of her thighs. A short blue skirt frilled out from the girl's hips, sitting just high enough to tease the crowd, but low enough to deny them any satisfaction.

Sucy felt personally victimized by this article of clothing, inwardly cursing the inventor of such an effective ratio.

Akko's open arms were swamped by billowing sleeves that covered less and less skin the further up they traveled, disappearing behind a cloak of red. Which, much to Sucy's dismay, covered the mark she had permanently etched into her dearest's skin.

"Well?" Akko tried again, attempting to snap the gaping witch from her trance. "I'm Chariot! Isn't it perfect?"

Sucy tore her eyes away from Akko's bare stomach to actually hear the words, letting them marinate inside her foggy brain. It was Chariot's outfit, no doubt, but as the alchemist observed, she found it suited Akko better. She truly looked wonderful, the entire outfit fitting her body exactly; that goofy hat on her head adding a touch of innocence to what is otherwise a rather sultry and teasing look.

"I can't wait for everyone to see it!"

That caused Sucy to jump, the reality of the situation flowing in like pressurized water on a submarine.

Akko was going to a party. With lots of people. Who will be looking at her.

 _'And who knows? Maybe they'll like what they see and ask her to dance._ ' The little girl was deliberately goading her now, poking and prodding to get the wanted response. ' _Maybe they'll take your absence as permission to sweep her away.'_

Sucy's eye twitched.

"I'm going." She said suddenly, interrupting whatever Akko was yammering on about at the time.

Lotte pressed her hands together, smiling brightly at the alchemist's change of heart. "Really?! But you haven't prepared a costume how will-"

"I'll be there." Sucy reaffirmed, closing the book with a slam. "I'll get a costume and meet up later."

Once the initial shock had worn off, Akko nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes! We'll wait for you there!"

She almost bounced out of the room with Lotte, both of their moods heightened by their friends decision.

Choosing a costume was easy enough, but crafting it took a bit of espionage. A historical military uniform stolen from the school storage wing, a pumpkin nicked from a mortal family's doorstep, a sharp knife taken from the cafeteria to improve the pumpkin's wimpy smile.

Just an hour of work and she looked perfect, a simple misdirection spell making it look like the pumpkin under her arm and the head on her shoulders swapped places. A headless soldier wandering the land for her lost love.

 _'But your love isn't lost, is she? You know exactly where she is, so go get her.'_

One last look in the makeshift mirror and Sucy was out the door, marching down the hall with focus and vigor. So what if she scared a few wusses? She was going to dance with Akko, and make her claim clear.

It took literally 3 seconds to locate Akko and the others, her giant white had contrasting easily against all the dark colours. The brunette beamed brightly when she saw her approach, grabbing her gloved hands and swinging them back and forth. "Sucyyy!~ Isn't this great? Everyone smiling, dancing; even you came!"

Amanda, dressed in full Dracula getup, snickered. "Yeah, she's really likes it when you come."

What was apparently Constanze, locked inside a robotic power suit, elbowed the redhead in the stomach, taking Lotte's usual place as Pavlovian filter.

"Leave them alone, Amanda, we can't have Sucy getting grumpy." The smaller ginger admonished. "Don't you have a prank to be pulling?" Sucy squinted at the underhanded comment. Lotte agreed with her original reasons for refusing this function, but pushed her to go anyway.

"Oh yeah! Let's mess with people!" Amanda cheered at the mention of delinquent antics, tugging Jasminka and Constanze away by the arm.

"We'll take care of her." Lotte promised, rushing away behind the three other girls. "You two have fun!"

And with that, the girls were left alone to bounce and sway together. "I don't see why they all have to go." Sucy remarked, setting her pumpkin off to the side and breaking the misdirection for her partner's sake. A pumpkin for a head wasn't exactly attractive.

She had to admit though, Akko's excitement was infectious, worming it's way through the alchemist's icy heart. They spun and laughed, any previous anxieties left at the door the moment Akko's big dumb grin was sent her way.

But after around seven minutes, the funky beats died down, as did the lights, and Sucy squeezed the brunette's hands in a concerned effort to reassure herself of Akko's continued existence in the darkness.

A bright light fell upon them suddenly, a spotlight from somewhere in the rafters singling them out specifically. She squinted up at the source, attempting to find the perpetrator, but was interrupted by the return of and subsequent change in genre of music.

It began with a steady one-two of strings, a gentle saxophone gliding in to begin the melody. Looking back on it, Sucy would have lashed out on a normal day, demanding the light be turned off. But she didn't do that, instead chuckling to herself and bowing, a hand held out in front of her. This was her chance to show off.

"Shall we, Lady Chariot?" She offered with a teasing grin.

"We shall, my dear soldier!" Akko giggled, taking Sucy's gloved hand.

Their joined hands extended out to the side, bringing them close. Sucy's hand went down to the other witch's waist, beginning to lead Akko back and around as more instruments joined the waltz.

"Follow my lead..." Sucy whispered, each step in time with the brass bass, leading her dearest around the centre of the room, adding whispered directions before each movement.

"Left... Back... Spin... Back..."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sucy could see the others watching them from the music mixer with pleased faces, though Jasminka was nowhere to be seen.

She spun Akko out at arms length, pulling her back in as the orchestra quieted down for a gentle trombone to take the stage. The brunette's fingers slotted in front of her own, allowing Sucy to guide her movement personally, one to one, kisses pressing against the side of her neck.

"Where'd you learn to dance like this..." She whispered, head leaning back against the alchemist's shoulder. The answer brought up not so nice memories, ones she would rather replace with this night, lest dancing be ruined for her forever.

"Some other time, love. Let's bring this home with style." As the entire orchestra returned, Sucy spun her again pulling her back in for an on the spot spin. They grinned at eachother, laughing while they circled around and around.

As it all came to a head, the song reaching it's climax and conclusion, Sucy led her around the room in large steps. "Right... Back... Spin... Right... Back... Left..."

And finally as it was ending with a repeated phrase of downward notes, Akko span outwards, still attached to her love's hand. A moment of stillness as Sucy smiled at her. And then the brunette was being pulled in again, the last higher pitched repeat of the phrase ending in her being dipped low to the ground, two notes ending their dance.

The auditorium was in a sort of shocked silence; Sucy felt the light still bearing down against her back as they remained in that position breathing heavily, foreheads pressed together.

"FUCK YEAH!" Came a loud cheer, signalling the rest of the room to applaud the unscheduled performance. Many cheered, but the loudest were their friends, hooting and hollering from the mixer. "SMOOOOOOTH!" Constanze roared, the robotic arms of her costume cupping around her mouth for added oomph.

 _'See? I told you it would be fun!'_ The voice in her head giggled. ' _And all you needed was a push.'_

Sucy felt used.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Guys, I fuckign love waltzes. The picture of Sucy dipping Akko down makes me turn into Constanze. It's so gud.**_

 _ **If you are curious, the music referenced in this chapter is Waltz No. 2 by**_ ** _Dmitri Shostakovich. It's a wonderful piece with some very unique instrument choices for it's genre; I mean trombone on melody? I mean it fits the piece beautifully and sounds amazing, but wow that's different._**

 _ **Enough of my babbling, I have to work on medieval gay.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed friends!**_


	18. Better

_**A/N: Fucking hell writers block was nonexistant for nearly all of this chapter and I was getting hopeful. But then for some reason a group of three sentences eluded me for legit four hours. I learnt from past mistakes and skipped around it, writing the entire rest of the chapter before coming back and continuing to stare at it for another hour.**_

 _ **As of right now while I am writing this authors note it has still not been completed. Help.**_

 _ **Magicantix: Wowie! Thank you so much friend! I'm glad you enjoyed.**_

 _ **The final line is in reference to the fact that Sucy doesn't really like feeling robbed of her agency, and literally everyone (Lotte, Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka, and even her own brain) was not so subtly pushing her into dance with Akko. The poke by Smol Sucy didn't really help.**_

 _ **And indeed as you may have guessed, our Lord and Saviour Jasminka was behind the lights.**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: Yes! I'm so glad you went back with the music! The writing just flowed so easily while listening to it and I hoped you would feel the same stuff I did! Thank you so much for your kind words friend!**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you my dear friend! I'm so glad you enjoyed!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Akko and Sucy passing the suaveness back and forth is high tier. I did not set out at the get-go of this story with angsty backstories in mind but here we are. Look forward to that.**_

 ** _I now scroll down to stare at that fucking blank spot for another hour. I hope you enjoy what I inevitably write!_**

* * *

Droplets fell heavily from the sky, battering against the window of their dorm with the autumn wind. Sucy sat comfortably in bed, continuing to read her book in peace; warm blankets protecting her body from the storm's chill.

Too much excitement did disastrous things to her mood, so a day or two of quiet reading was well appreciated by everyone.

For further back than she could remember, rainy days had always been her time of quiet. The orphanage didn't schedule any events when rain was on forecast, as they wanted potential parents to be in the highest spirits for "maximum adoption rates".

Sucy sneered at the memories flooding in.

She always hated those open houses; nobody was going to adopt the creepy little girl with the purple hair, making the whole thing a waste of time. So when the skies opened up and events were cancelled, it was automatically a better day.

Roomates came and went over the years without ever saying a word to her, too frightened by the unnatural pressure she gave off; effectively guaranteeing her peace and quiet.

"SUCYYYYY!"

Things were very different at Luna Nova.

Akko stumbled into the dormroom, water dripping down her face from her soaked hair, a towel wrapped around her shoulders. "Sucyyyyy!" She whined. "It's coooooooold!"

Sucy smirked at the girl, the rain having absolutely drenched her clothes, a pout curling out from her pretty pink lips.

"Hey there little kero, have fun splashing around?" She teased, placing a piece of cockatrice feather in between the pages as a bookmark.

"No I did not." The brunette's pout deepened, her shoulders slumping; bringing the towel up to her head to begin drying. "It was cold and wet and awful."

Wrapping a blanket around herself, Sucy picked up her still steaming cup and shuffled over. "Drink this, it will warm you up."

She took the mug, letting the steam warm her frozen nose. It smelled earthy, exotic, like Sucy's side of the room always did; it was a homely smell.

Warm, thin fingers worked at the buttons of her shirt, moving upward to loosen her tie. When Sucy's hands touched down on her bare skin, the brunette let out a shuddering breath. It was so warm.

"Ah jeez, you idiot." The alchemist sighed, the cold of Akko's skin bringing a concerned frown to her face. "What were you even doing out there? Umbrellas exist."

It took a few seconds for Akko to even realize that she was being spoken to, focused as she was on the other witch's warming hands. "Oh.. I was uh."

The girl looked away sheepishly, bringing the mug to her lips to hide more of her face. "I thought the wind would help me fly."

She closed her eyes, waiting for the teasing, the laughing; what she got instead was the sudden removal and replacement of weight on her shoulders.

' _Huh?'_

Opening her eyes, she found the warmth of a soft blanket surrounding her now mostly bare body. Sucy had turned around, quietly shuffling through the dressers for a suitable pair of clothes.

Akko blushed, bringing her mouth back to the edge of the mug and taking another sip as warmth spread outward from her heart, slowly pushing the icy numbness away.

"Come. Sit down." The alchemist ordered, gesturing towards the edge of her bed, a bundle of fresh clothes in her arms. Obeying quietly, Akko shuffled carefully over and plopped down, careful not to spill any of the deliciously warm liquid.

Sucy knelt down, placing the clothes on the floor next to her and offering out both hands. "Leg please."

The alchemist pulled off the soaked kneesocks, using the towel to soak up any excess water before replacing them with fluffy striped ones. The difference was almost immediate, the heat from Sucy's hands becoming trapped within the wool instead of diffusing into the air, allowing her skin's colour to return to a healthy pink.

Sucy sat there in front of her for a few seconds, her cheek resting on the brunette's knee before she gave a quick kiss and stood. "Up. And put that down, you need hands free."

She offered the folded bundle of clothes, trading for the cup of tea. "Hold on to me for balance if you need it."

Akko did just that, placing a hand on her dearest's shoulder and carefully stepping her feet into each leg of the sweatpants, nearly toppling over backwards when the elasticated ankle caught on her heel. "Honestly." Sucy huffed, tossing the blanket off of the girl's shoulders and stuffing the sweater over her head.

"Now if you don't need me to baby you anymore, I would like to get back to my reading." Sucy poked, smooching the girl on the cheek and crawling into bed. It took her a few seconds but she eventually found a comfortable position and let out a deep breath.

Akko stood there in the middle of the room, shuffling from foot to foot like a lost puppy, waiting for a command. The other witch glanced up from her book and huffed a laugh. "You're welcome to join me if you think you can stay quiet."

She nodded furiously, leaping over Sucy and onto the other side of her bed, kicking her feet to try and get them under the covers. Her flailing would have shaken something off of the shelves, and very nearly did, but a pale hand shot out and grasped the girl's neck.

"Just get over here you idiot." Sucy sighed, placing her book face down and yanking Akko over to her.

Within seconds Akko was pressed against the other girl's side, head resting on her shoulder, multiple blankets wrapped around them. She smiled, grabbing Sucy's arm and hugging it tightly, snuggling further into her shoulder.

"Comfortable?" The alchemist asked, once Akko's wiggling had ceased.

The brunette nodded, loosening her grip just enough to allow Sucy to hold her book properly, but never letting go. "Very."

"Good. Now shut up." She commanded, giving one final peck to the girl's head.

Yes, this was very different from the orphanage; she had friends here, people who loved her for who she was. She had Akko.

Running away was one of the best decisions she's ever made.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Well that was an incredibly frustrating hour.**_

 _ **BUT FUCK I DID IT.**_

 _ **I have no idea why those three sentences just wouldn't come out. I started to slip into self deprecation (Which is never a good plan when you're writing don't do that.) and shit fuckign sucked.**_

 _ **That one paragraph notwithstanding this chapter was incredibly nice to write. Some insight into Sucy's time at the orphanage, a soaking wet Akko, and some warm cuddles. Top tier shit.**_

 _ **Thank you all for your continued support of my works! It pushes me to do to the best I can and always makes my smiles brighter.**_


	19. Unbelievable

_**A/N: Welcome back to another exciting edition of Those Three Sentences. Because it's happened again. Fuck.**_

 _ **Maybe its because I've got too much Hollow Knight on the brain. I recently started playing it and hoo boi its gud. You all know how much I love my difficult games with vague storytelling in a macabre world.**_

 _ **That being said, the rest of the chapter was incredibly easy for me to write as my own girlfriend was sickly the other day.**_

 _ **This is my second attempt at writing all of these review responses as my computer restarted itself for no reason. *Shakes fist at sky* WINDOWS TEEEEEEEENNNN!**_

 _ **Magicantix: And I hope this chapter will be equally sufficient in all of those categories! Sucy's past is something the anime never really went into, but there are two versions; one deemed by the show's crew as seemingly deemed as non canon where in which Sucy still lives with her parents. I will be following the "canonical" version, because A: canon and B: because everything about her makes a ton more sense when you add that backstory.**_

 _ **A lot of kids don't get adopted due to picky potential parents, and this leads to a stunted emotional development and a twisted worldview; two things that Sucy definitely has. There's also other stuff to do with her eventual adoptive family and how it relates to her interests. But I will get into that in a later chapter.**_

 _ **Thank you very much my friend!**_

 _ **A Potato: I'm glad you are enjoying my writing! And I thank you for continuing to review even when there isn't much to say, It still means a lot to me! Thank you!**_

 _ **Guest: Hello my friend! Thank you very much for the review!**_

 _ **To answer your question, this story is mainly a series of slightly connected one-shots detailing the slow progression of their relationship. If it's detailed plot you're looking for, my other currently active story is what you need.**_

 _ **And thank you for the suggestion! It's incredible how the stars aligned in such a way to make me write a sickfic!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: You know what's gud shit? Your latest chapter. Holy shit boi.**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: Thank you my friend! I too adore rainy days. When I was a kid I would sometimes just stand outside in the rain and let it splash in my face; I have a mega high internal body temperature you see, so it was all kinds of nice.**_

 _ **And a thank you and your welcome my friend. That's really what this fic is all about, that day after day; the big pieces but also all the little moments in between.**_

 _ **baka-akko: Wowie! Thank you for such kind words friend! I too hope for more Sucy centric episodes in S2, she's definitely my favourite character. I didn't know that bit of trivia, but it certainly makes sense as one of the possible outcomes of such a backstory. Without her natural dark pressure, Sucy could have been easy pickings for any bullies around.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this my friends!**_

* * *

Absolutely unbelievable.

"How am I the one who gets sick? You came in here soaked to the bone the other day." Sucy had fallen ill, her pale skin growing even whiter; her body fighting against basic required functions, her internal temperature fluctuating wildly between a billion an zero degrees.

Akko took a seat on the bed, covering her dearest with an extra blanket; taking care to tuck it firmly beneath the mattress. Her eyes shone with a loving aura, filling Sucy with a flustered warmth.

"Because you took very good care of me." She explained with a bright smile, leaning over to press a gentle kiss to the alchemist's flushed cheek. "And now I'm going to take care of you!"

The sickly witch shifted, tucking her nose under the blanket to hide her increasing blush; murmuring her appreciation through the cotton. "Thank you..." It still felt so strange to be able to rely on someone; to be able to trust anyone enough to place herself in their care.

A hand lingering on Sucy's thigh for a moment, the brunette moved over to the desk to take a seat."Try and get some sleep." She suggested, opening her hefty textbook and flashing another bright smile. "I'll be right here if you need anything."

Exhaustion pressed down against Sucy's chest, the cold medicine fogging her brain and pulling her downward into oblivion. Sleep would help her heal; sleep would take the pain away. Akko would watch over her.

And so she drifted, the entire world blurring and warping; a second later she was back at th _e orphanage, writhing in pain. Her lungs burned, her muscles contracted and cramped harder than she ever thought possible, tears running down her face._

 _She whimpered and cried silently for hours, hoping and praying that someone- anyone -would save her._

 _But nobody came._

 _Nobody knew- or if they did, they didn't care. The poison would slowly rip her apart day by day until there was nothing left._

 _The world shifted and suddenly she was in a hospital, twenty years older and hunched over in a chair, covering her exhausted eyes with her hands._

 _"Mrs. Manbavaran?"_

 _A call of her name made Sucy immediately stand up, looking to the doctor with wide pleading eyes. She searched his stony face for any good news, anything but what she was seeing. He couldn't bear to look her in the eye anymore and dropped his head to the clipboard._

 _"I'm sorry." His words echoed like a bullet, fired straight through the alchemist's heart. "The surgery was just too much for her."_

 _Another shift and she was looking down on Akko's pale face, her beautiful eyes never to open again. Sucy crumpled completely, sobbing into her wife's chest, the utter devastation causing her legs to give out._

 _What else in the world was worth living for without her?_

"Sucy..."

 _Akko's voice echoed in the witch's ears, making her heart rupture even further. Her life was empty before that bumbling idiot, and now it was empty again._

"Sucy!"

All of a sudden her vision went dark; she felt something cold laying on her forehead, wetness streaking down her cheeks. ' _Where...? I was in the...'_

"Sucy it's just a dream! I'm here!"

Her eyes snapped open, looking around frantically at the blurry space above the bed. Blinking away tears, Sucy's vision focused on the worried face hanging over her.

"There you are..." Akko cooed, a hand holding the alchemist's neck gently, her bright beaming smile burning away the darkness. "Your fever got pretty bad for while."

Sucy's overheated brain was still heavy with fog, making it difficult to think- to remember anything, but the aching soreness and sweaty skin was quick to rectify the later.

With her free hand, the brunette flipped over the cloth resting on Sucy's forehead, replacing the lukewarm side. The cold soothed her melting mind and she closed her eyes in a moment of bliss.

"Love you..." Sucy murmured sleepily, snuggling into her dearest's hand. She felt so comforted, so cared for; something she had never experienced in all her years.

Akko giggled, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I love you too, sleepy bear, but you can't go just yet." The gentle hand pulled away from her neck making Sucy whine in protest.

"Calm down, I'm still right here!" The brunette chided, giggling to herself again. "Do you think you can sit up? I have something for you to drink."

It took nearly three seconds for the words to click in Sucy's foggy brain, and she creaked her eyes open, testing her muscles for anything that would impede her movement.

With Akko's help she eventually shifted up to sitting, leaning back against propped up pillows. The steam of a hot mug tickled her stuffed sinuses and made her look over to the brunette, who was smiling brightly and offering a soup of some sort.

"Lotte and Jasminka made it for you- with a little help for Lukic of course. In a school of witches you only have to be sick for a day!" Sucy's stuffed up brain had mixed feelings on the fact. She wanted to be free of this suffering, sure, but having Akko taking care of her was such a rare and wonderful experience; one she didn't want to end so quickly.

A moment of actual thought allowed the alchemist to see the error in such a scenario. She wasn't going to stay suffering for a little bit of attention that she could get just as easily by pouting a certain way.

And so the witch let Akko feed her, opening her mouth for the incoming spoon. She may have not wanted to prolong her illness, but that didn't mean she would shorten it either with personal action.

The slightly magical soup filled her stomach with warmth- real actual warmth that eased a chill she didn't feel before but was no doubt there.

As Sucy ate, that warmth brought with it a familiar wave of heavy exhaustion; her brain reacting to the acquisition of food with a soothing pump of chemicals. The rhythmic beating of her heart wasn't helping much either, like a metronome it hypnotized her, lulling the alchemist back down into the pillows.

Finally when all the soup was gone, and her stomach radiated with contented joy she couldn't keep her eyes open. Akko saw this and began laying her back down, tucking the blankets tightly around the witch's body with a loving smile. She was gentle and steady, careful not to interrupt the natural drift with any sudden movements.

But before the dark could take her again, Sucy wiggled her arms our from underneath the covers, stretching them out to grab her love.

"Ack! Sucy!" Akko cried out, surprised by the sudden show of force.

The alchemist pulled her closer, nearly all the way onto the bed, beginning to sleepily trace her scar of circling dashes with kisses. The closeness of Sucy's mouth to such a spot brought back that familiar mix of fear and excitement, bringing a blush to her face.

"S-Sucy! I need to do homework, I can't sleep with you now!" But any attempt to pull back was met by greater force, pulling Akko the rest of the way onto the bed to lay beside the sickly alchemist.

"My bunny..." She mumbled dreamily, falling all the way into peaceful oblivion.

There was a plan to be a responsible student today, but Akko's grade point average would have to wait, Sucy was feeling particularly greedy today.

What a shame.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Yes, what a shame. You have to cuddle your not-girlfriend instead of studying. Tragic._**

 ** _Oh boi, fever dreams! A perfect chance for a writer to explore a characters most hated memories and greatest fears! It is of my own personal opinion that Sucy's hair and skin colour are the result of some kind of toxin build up in Sucy's system; either her parents' doing or a mistake of her own whilst trying to locate them. This would have been cured by the time the show starts but the "scars" remain._**

 _ **This took way longer than it should have and I'm struggling to fight off that self deprecating little shit of a voice, but It is complete.**_

 ** _I shall get to work on the next chapter of A Rose, though it may come out late as my mother's birthday is tomorrow._**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed friends!_**


	20. Leaves (Part 1?)

_**A/N: Welcome back my friends to some mindless fluff. As is my forte. Apologies for any noticeable lack of quality or any wait times you may have had to endure. It was back to back birthdays this week. But I was able to get both this and a Rose chapter out so I'm generally pleased with the outcome.**_

 _ **Magicantix: Thank you very much my friend, I'm glad I can still keep my readers engaged after so many chapters! That's what I'm here for friend, a constant flow of that gud gay shit.**_

 _ **Mestophilies: CURSES, I'M A SHAM! I had completely forgotten about that. You're right! It would have fit perfectly.**_

 _ **A Potato: Lotte and the others will always be scheming to get these two together and it seems to be working. Slowly but surely these two will indeed find themselves in a place indistinguishable from a normal couple.**_

 _ **And do PM me with any errors that you have noticed! I would like to fix them! Thank you my friend!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Don't mention it friend, It's a joy to see such high quality stuff of this ship. And thank you for the kind words! Perhaps I can fit some sickfluff into Rose at some point maybe as one of those in between fluff chapters.**_

 _ **Sunken Stars: Aw! Such kind words! Thank you so much, it makes my day that this mindless fluff can make you smile!** **Writers block is damn terrible my friend, but I hope it clears for you soon! I would be very eager to read another contribution to our little subfandom. Safe travels friend, I wish you smiles and joy in your shipping adventures!**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this slightly date-like chapter.**_

* * *

It was one of those days. The sun sat behind just the right amount of clouds, leaves fluttered through the air on a breeze that was just the right temperature. Cool enough for coats and scarves, warm enough that their faces were safe from chill.

Lotte had kicked them out for a few hours, a report she needed absolute focus on apparently, but Sucy had long since guessed the truth. This was a not so subtle push to get the two of them to spend time alone together.

"Akko! Get over here!"

It was almost working.

The brunette was on an absolute rampage, diving into carefully raked leaf piles to the chagrin of those who created them.

A familiar old woman stood next to Akko's latest claim, one hand on her hip, the other on a stood up rake. Though she squinted at the alchemist at first, Miss Daniels eventually recognized that head of purple hair.

"Hello again, Sucy. Your girlfriend seems to be rather excitable today."

Akko tossed a pile of leaves up in the air, proving the elderly woman's point- the point of her rake rather, as it pressed into the delinquent's chest.

"Yeah..." The mycophile sighed, stomping over to the scene of the crime. "Forgive her, she's an idiot."

The brunette ceased her playing for a moment, looking up with an expression of stone that did little but make Sucy smirk. "I'll get her out of your hair."

A few more steps and she stood in front of her love, reaching out with both hands; wiggling her fingers. "Come on, guinea pig, leave these people's leaves alone."

Akko grabbed on, and pulled suddenly, breaking through the alchemist's centre of gravity and making her tumble forward into the leaves.

A mix of giggles and confused growls filled the air as Sucy flailed on top of the brunette's body. Akko's arms wrapped around her, laughing with glee at the alchemist's angry blush.

There was a second set of chortles amidst the chaos; Miss Daniels holding a hand against her lips in an attempt to quiet her amusement. "You two are certainly a pair."

Sucy sat up on Akko's hips, using the girl's ribs as a stable foundation. "What's that supposed to mean?" It was meant to be a simple inquiry but came out sounding more like a scowl.

"Opposites attract as they say." She elaborated, pushing excess leaves back towards the pile. "I'm certain you'll go far together."

It was reassuring to hear that from someone other than the voice in her head, pushing against anxieties deep seated. Not all darkness is infinite, not all good things must come to an end.

"S-ucy..." Akko gasped from beneath her. "You're c-rushing my l-ungs..."

"And who's fault is that?" The alchemist retorted, shifting up to lightly flick her in the nose. "You're the one who wanted me on top of you; now you have to live with the consequences."

"Alright ladies!" Their lovers spat was interrupted by the third, forgotten person present. Miss Daniels poked Sucy in her side, softly urging her to get off the girl with a chuckle. "Get out of my leaves."

Eager to regain some semblance of composure, Sucy rolled off of the brunette and stood up, dusting her tights. "Sorry about that." She murmured under her breath.

"Come on Akko, no more leaves." She ordered, reaching out a hand, carefully shifting her centre of gravity as to avoid another tumble. "We can go for ice cream~"

The bait was highly effective, making the brunette eagerly grab on and pull herself to standing. "Yes!" She cried, zipping past Sucy and tugging her along. "Yes let's go!"

"Bye Miss Daniels!"

The old woman closed her eyes, shaking her head with a smile. "Goodbye ladies."

"And Miss Sucy!" She added, making the alchemist dig her heels in and turn back.

"Make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble, yes?"

Sucy grinned, huffing out a single puff of laughter. "It's my life's work."

"Why are you such a problem child?" Sucy poked minutes later, walking hand in hand with her dearest down the road. The world was beginning to turn a slight orange, shadows growing longer with each passing minute.

Akko skipped beside her with a smile brighter than the setting sun. "You looooove me thooooough~" She sang as they entered the restaurant.

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean you should annoy people."

It was a smaller place, with one or two other people finishing up their meals, a rather bored looking waitress lighting up at the chance for anything interesting to happen.

"Table for two?" The girl presumed, gesturing to a booth near the window.

Sucy tried her best to give a somewhat thankful smile. "Yea, and we'll just have a sundae."

They slid into seats opposite one another, leaving the waitress to scoop their order. Sucy held her hand out once she was situated for her dearest to fiddle with.

Akko seemed so uncharacteristically focused when messing with her fingers; so quiet. It was a much welcomed respite from her usual chaos. And the way the setting sun coloured her skin gold only added to that angelic aura.

"You're cute when you're like this." She accidentally let slip, warmth beginning to creep up her neck. But before the alchemist could attempt to retract her statement, a memory from last week made her stop, internally growling.

 _'You're such a tsundere.'_

"Huh?" Akko blushed, blinking at her love from across the table; making the comparison even easier than it already was.

"You're like a squirrel or a rabbit." If that little brat thought she was going to be so easily categorized, then Sucy would have to throw a curveball.

 _'Congratulations, you played yourself.'_

Both the alchemist's literal internal conflict and the brunette's love-struck blushing were interrupted by a hefty looking sundae sliding in between them.

"Here you are!" The waitress said, smirking at how Akko's entire face lit up at the sight.

Sucy rested her cheek on a fist, waving a dismissive thank you to the waitress and watching in amusement as the witch dug in. "You're too easily pleased."

Akko, too distracted with the deliciousness in front of her to actually think through her word choice, let the first thing that came to mind fall through her lips. "Maybe you're just good at it."

"What?" Sucy's eyebrow dissapeared into her hairline.

"What?" AKko's skin and the cherry on top of the sundae would share similar colour palates for at least ten minutes afterword.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Man I wanted this to be a bit longer but I just ran out of steam. I may add a part 2 to rectify this in the future.**_

 _ **I think next chapter is going to be entirely possible future dream sequence, so let me know if you would prefer it be in all italics to keep the dreamy feel or stick with normal formatting.**_

 _ **I'm now going to go take some headache medicine.**_


	21. A Sugary Dream

_**A/N: Welcome back to even more absolute mindless fluff and sugar. As promised, here's some of that gud married future fluff. Fuck it was so nice to write, let me know anytime if you want the next update to be one of these and I will be glad to oblige.**_

 _ **Sunken Stars: Boi, same. When I saw your review, my fingers were lightning speed to read it. And you do not disappoint with your wonderful words! Thank you so much friend!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: I swear, Akko will be fucking with people's leaf piles even when she's like 90. I absolutely adore that aspect of Sukko, where Akko is being a nuisance and Sucy's job is to go and drag her away. "Please forgive my beautiful girlfriend, she's an idiot." is how I would describe them in one sentence. Thank you so much for the review friend!**_

 _ **Guest: Hah, no problem friend! Anytime you or anyone has a suggestion I'll hop on that shit. It removes a huge timesync from writing and makes it way easier to get chapters out!**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you so much friend! You basically are in-character!Akko so I'm super glad you can make those comparisons! And I'm very happy you enjoyed the rest of it too!**_

 _ **Kayi Rowling: Wow! All along the way! I can't thank you enough for sticking with me for so long friend! I'm glad you're enjoying it!**_

 _ **And I hope you all enjoy this incredibly fluff filled chapter!**_

* * *

The abyssal nothingness of slumber slowly gave way to conscious darkness; Sucy's eyes gradually creaked open, reeling at the setting sun shining through their window. A light but noticeable weight sat on the alchemist's stomach: their cat Kiraboshi curled up in a little ball, sleeping peacefully.

She gently stroked her fingers across the Bombay's head and down her back, smiling at how Kira's yellow eyes moved around under her eyelids.

"I wonder what you're dreaming about..." Sucy murmured to herself, watching the cat sleep for a few silent minutes. The sight brought back memories of watching her wife doing the same; the way Akko's face scrunched and moved, the tiny noises that escaped her mouth.

A nostalgic smile creased Sucy's lips, taking a moment to look at the golden band around her finger; remembering how she carried her drowsy new wife into the hotel room and sat her down on the bed.

 _"Akko come on, you can't sleep in this. Stay awake for just a few minutes, hey?" She whispered, deftly untying the brunette's corset to free her from her silk prison._

 _She shifted back on the bed, pulling Akko out of her dress like a butterfly from a cocoon. The arm gloves came off next, piling onto the floor next to the gown; her veil tossed into the corner of the room unceremoniously._

 _"There you go." Sucy whispered, turning the nearly bare woman's head towards her to press their lips together. "As much as I would just love to 'consummate our marriage', you are about ready to conk out."_

 _And conk out she did, only seconds after the alchemist had tucked her in. "I love you idiot..." Sucy chuckled, kissing her bride on the forehead before leaving her side to get herself ready._

She was suddenly kicked from her memories by the sound of the lock fiddling and turning.

"Sorry Kira," Sucy apologized to the cat, shimming out from under her. "Mommy is home."

Seeing the woman on the other side was having immense trouble working the lock, Sucy opened up the door herself, catching her wife and the box of groceries when they both tumbled into the apartment.

A wide shark toothed grin spread across her face, red eye shining with adoration. "Hey there good lookin', whatcha got there?"

Flicking her bangs out of her eyes, Akko looked up at her dearest with a bright beaming smile. "Bread, milk, green onion, most of the stuff you put on the list. I also brought dinner!"

Sitting atop the cans of ravioli was a plastic bag of closed styrofoam containers. "Take it over to the table, please!" She politely sang, taking the box into the kitchen. "The mushroom chow mein is yours, the pork rice is mine. I also got us noodles to share."

Dropping the package off on the coffee table, Sucy walked past the brunette into the kitchen; pressing a kiss against the shell of her ear. "You don't work tomorrow yeah?" She asked, reaching to grab two glasses, but keeping her eyes locked on Akko's.

"Yup!" Akko beamed, setting the milk in the fridge. "I'm all yours until Thursday!" The fridge closed behind her and she rested back against it, her smile relaxing to a comfortable grin.

The alchemist's smile widened into a predatory grin, leaning in closer until their noses brushed together and their eyes fluttered closed.

"Well that's just perfect, isn't it?" She murmured with a slight grumble, the hand on Akko's waist shifting down to her hip. "Cause I've been feeling a bit hungry..."

Akko giggled, pushing against her wife lightly with both hands. "It's a good thing I bought Chinese then!" She teased, a slight flush to her cheeks as she skipped over to the bedroom

The alchemist laughed through her scowl, rolling her eyes back to the cupboard when Akko slipped out of arms reach.

"What are you feeling for a drink?" She called into the hallway, pouring her own glass of wine. "I found that red from Christmas again."

Her lovely other half waltzed back into the kitchen in far more comfortable clothes: one of the alchemist's baggy T-shirts and those lovely red shorts that were coming apart at the seams.

Sucy loved those shorts oh so much; they only got shorter as Akko grew over the years, allowing the witch to see more and more of her love's wonderful legs.

"I'll have whatever you want." She answered, hugging her wife from behind. "Just fill up one cup a bit more; we'll share." Akko's hugs, though still quite tight, calmed down as she matured, allowing the alchemist to actually enjoy them.

"Go sit down bunny, I'll be there in a sec." Their lips met over Sucy's shoulder for a second before Akko broke away and followed commands, shuffling her way into the living room.

 _'How did we get so lucky?_ ' The little girl in her head sighed, flushed red and swimming in a sea of bliss. Sucy, though acclimatized to having an actual loving partner, still felt those butterflies in her stomach sometimes as well. As long as the alchemist lived, she would still pinch herself every morning.

Flicking off the light as she left the kitchen, Sucy smiled at the sight of her wife's futile attempts to pick up the noodles with the chopsticks provided. Kira was watching with similar amusement, turning her head and meowing towards the approaching witch.

"Yes Kira, I did bring mommy a fork." The alchemist chuckled, bopping Akko on the head with the utensil as she slid the cat aside to sit beside her.

The brunette pouted with childish frustration, begrudgingly accepting the fork and spooling a bite.

"ay cood do eet!" She grumbled with a mouth full of noodle, swallowing to speak clearer. "You just don't trust in my abilities!"

"Oh Akko, Akko, Akko..." Sucy began, swallowing her latest sip of wine and gripping her wife's chin gently. "Determined, beautiful, my rising sun in a dark world; yet still a Japanese girl who can't use chopsticks for shit."

Akko pounced on her, making the alchemist fall backward onto the couch cushions; luckily Kira was able to escape the chaos before it happened.

"Sucyyyyy!" She whined, sitting on the witch's hips and battering her with a stuffed animal. "Ruuuuuu- Oh!"

The alchemist overpowered her when a surprise squeeze on her bottom created sufficient distraction. She was on top now, holding Akko's wrists to either side of her head and cackling at the brunette's betrayed face.

"You're a jerk." She pouted, though the sunshine was threatening to break through her mask into a full blown grin.

"I love you too, Akko." Sucy replied, bringing their lips together.

Married life wasn't so different.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I cri that was so cute.**_

 _ **Rosebois will be probably out sometime tomorrow morning? Perhaps? Just keep an eye on your email if you're following me.**_

 _ **I have a limited amount to say at the end here for some reason other than fjklhagfah it's so cute.**_

 ** _Anyways tell me how it was! I'm always open to suggestions and prompts if you have any as well._**


	22. Just straight fucking sugar

_**A/N: Welcome back to another exciting edition of Kap has run out of ideas and so turns to sleepytime cuddles. But this time with added dream shenanigans. My mind is currently neck deep in A Rose in Winter and all the stuff I want to do in the next chapter. So at least we have that. If any of you have any suggestions or prompts by all means you can send it- as guest or whatever you want.**_

 _ **I continue to absolutely adore reading all of your reviews! You guys are great.**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Oh yeah big time. It takes a little while for Sucy to recover from her emotional deficiency but when she does... I think Sucy would be one of those people, because of how starved she was for genuine connection, to grab tight of her relationship and never ever loose that honeymoon love. Thank you so much my friend!**_

 _ **Magicantix: I mean I'm from Hawaii and can't surf so I can't talk. But absolutely Akko is the kind of person to just miss out on those key skills. Married Sucy can be summarized thusly: No More Tsundere, We Die Like Men. She just doesn't even give a shit anymore and would smooch her wife hard in public for everyone to get mad at. Thank you friend!**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you for your kind compliments my friend! Kiraboshi is a Bombay! A breed of black cat with lovely yellow eyes. Because lul witches. I'm glad you enjoyed!**_

 _ **Sunken Stars: Hah I hope you had pleasant dreams friend! I woke up to your lovely review and it certainly made me smile! I hope this shot of fluff is equally lovely. Thank you!**_

 _ **Queen Sydon: Ye boi. Going out for dinner, driving over to the store to buy groceries, washing dishes together, Akko bringing her over to family functions. I cri.**_

 ** _I hope you enjoy friendos!_**

* * *

Slight shuffling brought sudden consciousness to Sucy's brain, the sight of the back of her eyelids turning the abyssal blackness slightly purple. A cold rush of air hit the side of her body as someone snuck in under the covers to lay beside her.

The familiar scent of Akko's hair assaulted her nostrils as a weight pressed down on her chest. Creaking her eyes open revealed what the alchemist expected, the object of her affections had crawled into her bed; now cuddled up against her side.

Luna Nova was currently in the midst of a strike, and without the faeries warming the school or magic to do anything about it, winter's claws dug deeper and deeper into the building.

On a normal day she might have said something, at least teased her for being so presumptive, but it was too cold; she could use the extra body heat.

So an arm was wrapped around the brunette's shoulder, gently playing with the soft chocolate locks; another coming to rest quietly on the girl's hip.

A tiny amount of shuffling later and the two girls were comfortably entangled, layers of wool and cloth separating their little world from the harsh chill outside.

It only took a moment for the darkness to creep into her vision again, deep fog clouding any possible thought other than Akko's warmth.

And finally with her love against her side, the alchemist melted into the dreamworld.

 _"What do we have here?" The old woman croaked, her voice rough and wheezy. "Another little one?" Sucy shivered in the darkness, looking up at hunched figure as moonlight filtered through the trees, her eyes red from salty tears._

 _"Where are your parents my child?" The wind blew through her wild hair as she waited for Sucy's answer; the girl's silence and downward look spoke fathoms._

 _The little girl felt a weight rest atop her head, a thumb gently rubbing against her scalp. "I see." Was all the elderly lady said for a moment, looking down the road towards the nearby town in thought._

 _"Would you like to come with me?" She said, breaking the silence. "An old crone like me could always use an extra pair of hands around the house."_

 _Sucy wiped her eyes, turning to look at that claustrophobic hive one last time before nodding. There was nothing left for her anywhere else._

 _"Let's go home."_

The dream only lasted a short time as Akko's wiggling pushed the peaceful dark away. She had moved in her sleep, now laying fully atop the alchemist, head resting in the centre of Sucy's chest, just beneath her chin.

"Sucy..."

She was mumbling in her sleep, whining to a dream version of her dearest about the cold whilst hugging the real version like a body pillow.

Sucy herself was beginning to feel the icy chill, only the brunette's warm body atop her keeping her core safe from its fangs.

 _A flash of memory assaulted her mind. A heavy wool cloak sitting atop her shoulders; slowly beating back the chilling lonliness of that night. "My name is Ramzan." The unsettling yet kind old woman stated. "Do you have one?"_

 _"Sucy..." She heard herself mumble meekly into the wind, a decade younger and far emptier inside. "My name is Sucy..."_

Akko squirmed again, trying to snuggle even further within her living mattress, desperately searching for any more warmth. "...Cold..." She whined, her unprotected nose becoming red.

It was clear neither of them would be getting a good sleep.

"Alright!" She spoke suddenly, shoving Atsuko off of her body and onto the floor. The brunette almost immediately awoke, an expression of complete betrayal on her face, her nose dripping an unattractive glob of snot.

 **"ITS COLD!"**

The whole thing would very quickly get out of hand; destruction of property, injuries, her face being splashed with soup. Akko would then go on to join a labour union for some reason, though watching a whole crowd shout 'aristocrat' at Dianna brought a smile to the alchemist's face.

After the chaos had ended and the heat returned, Sucy found herself stumbling from the showers, her blood pressure reeling from temperature change. Crashing through the door with Akko trailing behind, the alchemist collapsed on her bed face down.

That weird new teacher saved the day with her machines, and in the end everyone came out content, except for Sucy. Something in the depths of her mind; beyond the little girl, beneath all the vines, told her it shouldn't have turned out so well. Happy endings took ages- they were rare; it all felt too easy.

And yet she was far too exhausted to be that cynical. Akko was her happy ending, and that idiot literally came out of nowhere, maybe this was the faeries' turn.

Sucy rolled onto her back, working up the effort to pick up the blankets that still sat in a pile on the floor. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while, memories attacking at every opportunity; the exhaustion was welcomed with open arms.

 _'Maybe tonight will be different...'_

A gust of air made the puce haired girl open her eyes to see two layers already covering her body, a sleepy Akko curling back the blankets closest to her.

Sucy frowned, grabbing the girl by the nose when she shuffled under the covers and cuddled close. "What are you doing?"

"Cut it out!" Akko whined, batting away the viper's grip with her hand. "It's cold and I'm exhausted. I sleep better here." She closed her eyes and pouted, attempting to look serious, but a tint of pink gave the game away.

"Ah I see." The purple viper began, even in her sleepy state a teasing smile snuck out. "Idiots like you aren't supposed to use their brain that much." Akko had really strained her cognitive abilities, thinking long and hard about personal gain on the backs of others or some nonsense. "No wonder you're tired."

She then grabbed the girl, placing the head of brown hair atop her chest and hugging an arm around her shoulders. "Tomorrow you're helping me out with a few things." The alchemist decided, smiling at the way Akko's body tensed in fear.

The girl looked up, carefully observing Sucy's resting face. "..Then I'm gonna 'njoy this.."

A kiss on her chin, down to her throat, then right between her collarbones before her dearest finally relaxed. "...Loves you..."

She waited until Akko's breathing steadied completely to let out her own held breath, the head rising up from her neck until it covered her face with red.

That night was indeed different. Sucy dreamt of the future, and of happy days to come.

* * *

 _ **A/N: AND THEN SHE DREAMS ABOUT BEING MARRIED TO AKKO. More Sucy backstory! Fun! Ramzan Manbavaran in the lwa manga is an elderly alchemist who takes in children she comes across and adds them to her family. I like to imagine that this is where Sucy really discovered her love of alchemy and where she gained just enough social interaction to be able to go to a place like Luna Nova and not have crippling social anxiety.**_

 _ **Man all your reviews make me think about just slamming out married life chapters one after the other. So maybe I'll do that after next times thanksgiving chapter.**_

 _ **The U.K's harvest festival took place in early October so there will be slight timeline fuckery to fit it in with thanksgiving. But be hyped for Akko introducing her not girlfriend to the family.**_


	23. Sucy Meets the Parents

**_I hope all my American friends had a wonderful thanksgiving! I just finished up my second out of 3 year end turkeys and oh boi it was a gud. Anyway welcome to Akko introduces her not girlfriend to her parents. Its very gay and also 50% longer than normal chapters._**

 ** _Have fun._**

 ** _SunkenStars: Lul I will also subscribe to that headcanon. I'm very glad you enjoyed friend!_**

 ** _Shigiya: Perhaps my friend, though I would have to do some thinking on what non-superficial thing would get Sucy that riled up, there aren't that many things that could get her actually angry at Akko. Hm. Perhaps it would be Akko who gets angry like in The Enchanted Parade? Food for thought I suppose. Thank you for the suggestion!_**

 _ **DuwangChew: This tho. I think the biggest advice I would give to anyone who is having trouble writing Sucy is exactly that. Think about the cause and effect of her life, think about how other abandoned and or orphaned kids see the world.**_

 _ **A stunted emotional development, social anxieties, a feeling of being alone in the world even when they aren't, a feeling of being not wanted.**_ _ **These are big parts of Sucy's character and a huge cause for a lot of her actions.**_

 _ **Without these key elements of her backstory, Sucy would be very different. And indeed the further into the show we get, the more different Sucy gets. She's learning how real meaningful relationships work, and how people do actually want her around, how there is light in the world. Akko and Lotte are massive contributors to that growth.**_

 _ **A Potato: Hey there friend! I'm so glad the fluff sustained! I would adore more episodes that go into Sucy's mental state and how it got that way. She clearly has a very strong mask put up for others alongside a general disdain for the world and its people. As funny as lama Sucy is it takes a pretty serious set of circumstances for someone to hate humanity that much. We pray for season 2.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy friends!**_

* * *

It had been planned weeks in advance. The day of the harvest festival came with the rare bonus of permitting students to use the leylines and visit family. The parents of course were required to claim responsibility for said students, and guarantee they would return to the school on time.

Sucy remembered with a smirk how Akko forced herself to abandon her beloved card, physically straining against her own grip. The alchemist had eventually just snuck up behind and scared her, making her drop the sheet of cardboard into the bowl.

Now, with everything settled and more casual clothes on, they flew through the leylines towards Akko's nearest terminal. Lotte had left in a different direction towards her own home, eager to visit with her family again, so it was just the two of them yet again.

What a suprise.

"I never knew there was a leyline near my home!" The brunette cried excitedly from in front, turning her head slightly to see Sucy's face over her shoulder. "This is amazing!"

An amused smirk teasing the sides of her lips upward, Sucy snorted a laugh through her nose. "Yeah, there's a lot you don't know."

Brushing off the teasing by virtue of her good mood, Akko's brain clicked and a question arose. "You already had a broom when we met." She stated thoughtfully. "Why didn't you just take a leyline straight to Luna Nova?"

"The one near Ram- uh.. My -home, It hasn't worked for ages." The leylines had been vanishing for years by the time she learned to fly. Who knows how long the one they flew through at that moment would last.

Akko didn't seem too fazed by the alchemist's slip of the tongue, continuing in a happy voice. "I'm kinda glad you didn't just take a straight shot to the school." She admitted honestly, a tiny tint of pink on her face contrasting against the green of the magical vein. "Then we never would have met!"

That would have been a far worse timeline, at least for her. Akko would probably end up making the same number of friends if not more without her, but without that collision on the way to the terminal, Sucy would certainly be alone.

The thought gave her shivers.

"Yeah..." The alchemist murmured, taking a hand off of the broom to press against Akko's stomach, making sure she was still there.

The rest of the trip was quiet, just the constant wind of pure magic flowing around them. Eventually, having successfully navigated the leylines, the girls touched down just outside a familiar cityscape.

Akko hopped off the broom and span around, taking in the afternoon air. The red hoodie and tights combo was rather freeing for the girl, allowing her to jump and dance and spin without constantly thinking about her skirt.

The walk into the city was an lively one as Akko skipped along at her side holding the alchemist's hand and kicking chestnuts as they came up on the path.

"I can't wait to taste mama's cooking again!" She said with a beaming smile. "I purposely skipped breakfast so I could eat as much as possible!" Sucy rolled her eyes: starving herself was something only her guinea pig could be proud of.

A quick bus ride and a block of walking found the girls standing right outside the Kagari's building, the surprisingly standard apartments subverting Sucy's expectations.

"I would have thought you lived in a hobbit hovel or something." She teased as the girl dragged her along, too full of energy to even notice the poke.

There was only so fast they could go, as Sucy's long skirt prevented too large of steps; this chained Akko's excitement somewhat. "Calm yourself little bunny" The alchemist chided as they stood in the elevator. "We're almost there."

A squeeze on the brunette's hand made her actually look Sucy in the eyes.

"But I'm excitteedddd!" Akko pouted, playing with her dearest's fingers to calm herself. "It makes me really happy thinking about you meeting my family."

The small child within Sucy's head fidgeted as anxiety flared, causing a swarm of butterflies to apparate inside her stomach. They really were coming at this whole thing in a weird order: not even past the first kiss step and already she was meeting the parents.

What would she say? _"Hello, Mr and Mrs Kagari! I'm your daughters kinda girlfriend who sometimes makes her drink lethal poisons!"_

Maybe she should have stayed at school.

Her brooding was broken by a hand knocking on wood. Akko had quietly dragged her from the elevator and together they were about to enter the apartment.

The door opened to reveal a very large Japanese man, his eyes twinkling with a familiar look- one Sucy often saw whenever Akko looked at pickled plums.

"Akko!" He cried, scooping up his daughter in a tight squeeze.

"Papa!" Akko beamed, returning the hug.

Sucy stood awkwardly to the side, slightly fearful of receiving a Kagari Family Deathgrip straight from its patriarch.

Excited Japanese could be heard from further in the apartment and a woman- slightly taller and more aged but otherwise nearly identical to Akko -pulled her husband away to squeeze her baby girl.

"Ohhhh how I've missed yooou! Come in!"

Following the reuniting family inside the apartment and closing the door for them, Sucy kicked off her shoes and stood silently behind the brunette, leaning around to make her presence known.

Akko suddenly wrapped her arms around the alchemist in a thankfully less bone crushing embrace, presenting her to the family.

"And this is Sucy!" She beamed, turning her head to direct it at her love.

Sucy met her eyes with an awkward smile before looking back to the parents. Mr and Mrs Kagari's smiles reflected their daughter's, beaming bright like the summer sunshine.

"So you're Sucy!" Mrs Kagari confirmed, pressing her hands together at her chest. "Akko has told us so much about you!"

"We know she can be a bit of a handful, but thank you so much for looking after her." Sucy smirked a more genuine grin in agreement with Mr Kagari.

"Yeah she's a real dork, but she's my dork." Far away from the school, and surrounded by people who loved Akko just as much as she did, Sucy felt she could be honest.

Akko's mother giggled, smiling warmly at the pair. "Well come and sit, you must certainly have stories."

About half an hour of conversing with Mrs Kagari taught Sucy a few things. For one, Akko's mother was very much like her daughter though mellowed with age, it was like looking into the future and reminded her of her various dreams that did the same.

A second and more eyebrow raising fact was that both Kagari's assumed her to be Akko's girlfriend, bringing up the question of just how much the brunette had told them. Still, Sucy wasn't going to do anything that would make them think otherwise; it was nice to know she had their favour.

When Akko herself walked up to check on the food, she kissed the alchemist on the cheek, showing that she felt the same on the matter.

Finally feeling that missed breakfast, Akko stole a piece of chicken from the skillet, only for it to be snatched up before it ever reached her mouth.

Sucy grinned widely, pulling her chompers away from the brunette's now empty fingers and winking at her betrayed love. "You gotta be faster than that."

"Patience, Atsuko." Akko's mother chided with a smirk. "Why don't you show Sucy your room? You won't be tempted by the smell that way."

 _'Then i'll be the one who's tempted._ ' Sucy thought before catching herself and widening her eyes. This was not the time or place to be thinking things like that, especially with Akko's parents literally a few metres away.

In other, less predatory news, Akko's room was exactly as the alchemist pictured.

Simple floral pattered wallpaper adorned with numerous posters of Chariot, mortal made witch paraphernalia scattered all over the room, a desk, a bookshelf no doubt filled with witch related books, and a perfectly average single bed.

Yes this looked right.

After a few teasing chuckles at Akko's expense, Sucy found herself laying beside the brunette on her bed, both arms wrapped around her waist. The bed was far too small for two people and so they laid close together, Sucy's knees slotted in behind Atsuko's.

"I'm so glad you came with me." The girl murmured, laying a hand on Sucy's against her stomach. "I would have missed you too much."

"What? You would have seen me the next day anyway." The mycophile chuckled, laying a kiss just under Akko's ear.

She rolled over in Sucy's arms to face her, beaming bright with a slight pink tint on her cheeks. "Too long!"

This girl almost certainly had some sort of Stockholm syndrome. It was baffling to the alchemist how someone could enjoy her presence, crave it even. "You're such an idiot." She huffed, closing her eyes and smiling.

"But I'm yooooour idiot~" Akko sang, snuggling her head under Sucy's chin.

Damn it, she loved this girl. She needed to start spitting it out more often; maybe even get that missed kissing step out of the way.

"Yeah, you are. Don't you forget it."

But maybe later.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Damn it Sucy you coward, kiss her. This was a very very enjoyable write. If I didn't do so much skipping around this would have certainly been 2000 words. But hey let me know if more Sucy meets the relatives shit is up your alley and I'll continue.**_

 ** _My brain is currently very empty of things to say other than the next chapter of A Rose in Winter should be up Sunday or Monday morning._**

 ** _Bepis._**


	24. Sucy is a fuckign tease

_**A/N: It is early in the morning and I have a bad case of heartburn. LETS MAKE MORE GAY SHIET.**_

 _ **Cner: Hey thanks friend! I'm glad my works are of respectable quality!**_

 _ **Guest: That's how I like my slow burn buds. I like it kept at this level perhaps lower for all time. We are at terminal frog boil level burn.**_

 _ **But HOOOOLY SHIT thats a lot of ideas. THANK. This will keep me busy for quite a few chapters! Thank you friend!**_

 ** _A Potato: Haha! Well that's what our future dreams are about. As much smooching as legally possible. Thanks friend! I tried to think about Akko's parents working backwards from her. What kind of people would raise this kind of girl I asked myself. I'm glad it feels right!_**

 _ **NotThatBarnable: Now there's an idea.. Perhaps if they knew she was using their baby girl for human experimentation that may soil their image of her. I think Sucy may or may not freak out internally, filling her brain with more lovely black anxiety water. My Sucy's character can easily fall into the category of 'Cool chick who's chill but not really inside she's falling apart constantly.' Thank you friend!**_

 ** _Magicantix: Hey I'm glad you enjoyed friend! Thank you for your kind words!_**

 ** _Well what Sucy means in her thinking is that usually when someone doesn't live with their parents (like Akko currently) taking their s/o to meet their parents is one of the last tiers as they feel confident and secure in their relationship at that point. Sucy hasn't even kissed the girl on the lips yet and is already getting taken home to meet the parents._**

 ** _In a situation like highschool relationship where you go home to your parents every day and most likely invite your s/o over to the house, meeting the parents is the opposite, one of the lower tiers._**

 ** _Why am I talking in tier terms, now I'm just thinking about adventure time._**

 ** _I hope you enjoy friends!_**

* * *

Mr Kagari knocked on the door ten minutes later, opening the door slowly and letting in the overwhelming smell of finished food. Akko's nose twitched, her eyes snapping open and wiggling desperately before remembering just who's arms restrained her.

"Food's ready girls!" Her father called, smirking at how a drowsy Sucy kept a tight grip on the brunette; pulled the girl into her lap and forced her to remain calm instead of bolting from the room like a rabid animal.

"Thank you for letting us know, Mr Kagari." Sucy murmured in appreciation, turning down to squeeze her dearest's just a bit tighter. "We'll be there in just a second."

He nodded and left the room, leaving the door open for them to follow.

"Sucyyyy!" The brunette whined. "Let me goo! I'm hungryyy!" An infinite pool of regret was beginning to form within the young witch, her skipped morning meal returning to bite her. Her empty stomach cried out in betrayed wails, she needed food.

Her wiggling was suddenly halted by a purposeful and breath against her peachy and well loved skin. "Why so eager to get away from me?" Sucy hummed, rubbing the tip of her nose against the side of Akko's neck.

"No I- Ah.. hungry..." Atsuko knew well she was being toyed with, but hardly had the energy or will to fight back, involuntarily shivering at the closeness of those razor sharp fangs.

The venomous viper chuckled, moving her mouth just that bit closer to Akko's ear. "Mmm." She hummed wordlessly. "What a coincidence... _I'm hungry too._ "

Properly shaking now- from a mix of fear, excitement, and hunger -the brunette craned her neck to the side, giving Sucy the go ahead. She whimpered, merely clay in those ghostly pale hands.

"Let's get to the kitchen!" Sucy suddenly cried, shoving a stunned Akko onto the floor. The alchemist doubled over in laughter, cackling loudly at the girl's confused face.

As Sucy laughed, Akko's entire face burned hotter and hotter, flooding with blood and turning a beet red. Her mouth hung open slightly, eyes focused somewhere far off. It took four whole seconds for her brain to reboot, only then seeing the hand outstretched to her.

Sucy smiled, chuckles trailing out with a breath and holding out another arm for the brunette to grab onto. "Let's not keep your parents waiting any longer."

Dumbly taking her love's hands, Akko was pulled up to standing, stumbling a bit as her centre of gravity stabilized. The girl's face remained in a tight grimace, weary of Sucy's next move.

"Chin up." The alchemist admonished, placing a hand on Akko's cheek and grinning impishly. "We can satiate that hunger later."

A kiss on her nose reactivated the brunette's senses, the smell of freshly cooked and cooling food bringing her frenzied appetite back full force.

Almost immediately, Atsuko bolted for the door, pulling the other laughing witch along behind her.

A delicious dinner awaited them: fresh rice, a steaming hot teriyaki stir-fry, as well as a plate of deep fried shrimp drizzled with tentsuyu.

With a clap together of the hands and a single word prayer of thanks, the family dug in, each of the members sighing in bliss at the taste.

"Atsuko tells us you're an alchemist!" Mr Kagari began, filling the silent chewing with small talk. "Like a pharmacist she said. One that makes their own stuff?" It took Sucy a second before she remembered: Akko came from an entirely mortal upbringing; most normal people had little idea what went on beyond the leylines.

She politely finished chewing before speaking- the exact opposite of her ravenous love, who frantically shoved as much food into her mouth as possible like a rabid animal.

"I guess it's like that." The witch mused. "A lot of professionally practicing alchemists call their shops pharmacies anyways." Dangerous venom and frog transformation potions would only get a working witch so far; most eventually found themselves selling curatives for common illnesses or health products for athletes.

"My..." Sucy trailed off and paused, thinking through her word choice. "...foster mother you might call her, owned a small store that most people treated as a pharmacy- no proper medical places around."

"I'll probably do something similar after graduation." Her future was usually never something Sucy took the time to think about, always assuming her life would play out identically to Ramzan's. Though without a love of children like she had, the alchemist would find herself alone in old age.

Or at least she would have, before that morning in May.

Mrs Kagari was enthralled, mindlessly twirling the stir-fried beans on her fork. "What kind of mixtures do you make?" She was so much like her daughter, bright red eyes wide in curiosity, sparkling in the light of the room.

"Poisons and antidotes for said poisons, artificial flavourings, transformation potions; all sorts of stuff." The brews she created were more for shits and giggles than anything else, but occasionally the urge would swell to cook up something practical. Sucy smiled to herself, remembering the knock out elixirs- specially made for Akko's consumption.

"I imagine it's quite difficult to make and test everything by yourself!" Akko's mother said, picking up her bowl and leaning back in her chair.

"It used to be." She answered honestly, before grinning and wrapping her arm around a now-less-rabid brunette in a side hug. "But I've got your daughter helping me out! She's a great assistant."

Said daughter seemed content to rest against Sucy and every so often maneuver the fork away from the alchemist's mouth and towards her own. Sucy nearly objected, but stopped herself once she looked over towards Akko's plate to find it completely empty; licked clean.

The large Japanese man nodded, a small smirk on his face. "It was a difficult decision to send Akko away to a witch school." Mr Kagari began, forking the last piece of chicken. "But I'm glad in the end. She's found good friends, someone who truly cares about her; she's doing what she's always dreamed of."

"Ooh! Oooh!" Akko suddenly perked up, wiggling out of the alchemist's grip. "That reminds me! I wanted to show you what I've learned in person!"

Bouncing around the chair to stick her hands in Sucy's pockets, Akko pulled out a small vial of orange liquid. "This will turn me back after, yeah?" She verified with the other witch, shaking the viscous goo around.

The alchemist grinned wide, nodding. "Probably!"

That was good enough for Akko, stepping a bit back and pulling out her wand. "Okay! Here we go!" She did an unnecessary spin, moving the wand and her body more for aesthetics than function.

 _ **"Metamorphie Facies!"**_

And with a puff of smoke, the girl transformed into a small white rabbit.

Her parents clapped, beaming bright Kagari smiles as their daughter bounced towards the table and lept up onto her chair. "What do you think?" She asked, smiling brightly with her eyes.

"Amazing." Mr Kagari said. "Not even a year and our daughter can completely change species!" Akko's mother snickered at that, nodding and covering her mouth politely as she chewed.

"I don't have enough magic here to turn myself back, so Sucy's gonna do it!"

Sucy patted her lap, signalling the bunny to hop onto it. Holding a smaller and fluffier Akko like a baby, the alchemist uncorked the vial and gently poured it past the rabbit's buck teeth.

Another poof and Sucy had her dearest sat in her lap, arms wrapped around her waist. Atsuko was a human girl once more, but with notable additions.

"Ack! Sucy!" She cried, reaching up to touch the ears that still sprouted from the top of her head. "You said this would turn me back!"

"I did, and you are." Sucy snickered with a teasing grin. "But you're just so cute as a bunny I didn't want it to go away!"

Akko's mother and father laughed along as the alchemist rubbed her nose against their daughter's whiskers. "We can always fix it later."

Later took approximately four hours.

* * *

 _ **A/N: LOCAL WITCH GETS ABSOLUTELY BAITED AND FUCKING DIES. God damnit Sucy give the girl the neck nibbles she desperately wants. You've done this too her, face the consequences.**_

 _ **In other news this chapter has made me really crave Japanese food. Fuck. Tempura with tentsuyu, dynamite rolls, poke, katsu.. Shiboi I fuckign die.**_

 _ **Well its not that big of a deal. On the west coast you can't go two blocks without bumping into a Sushi place. Truly blessed lands.**_

 _ **I am now going to write a cheesy lovey dovey thing to stuff in with my girlfriend's Christmas gift. Wish me luck.**_


	25. Cooking (Part 1)

**_A/N: Well my sense of time has suddenly vanished into the void. So if this is earlier or later than usual: Apologies/Your Welcome._**

 ** _But I do know one thing! Happy December friends! I hope you are enjoying getting into the holiday spirit! This is personally my favourite month of the whole year, what with the cold weather and the jolly atmosphere and the lovely lights. There's also the added bonus of definitely getting some super gay Christmas fanart of this ship. D..._**

 ** _Magicantix: Thank you so much my dear friend! Your reviews always make my day! Man there's so much stuff to go into in a potential season 2, I HAVE A NEED. And yes my dude I fuckin wrote the most sugary fluffiest shit I could muster. She's gonna go into a diabetic coma when she reads it. Worth._**

 ** _A Potato: Hey there friend! Wowie, I have a lot of ideas for stories this month now. And this chapter is basically setup for what you described lul. Get Excite. Thank you so much my friend!_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy friends!_**

* * *

Despite the constant disruptive shenanigans in the school, the curriculum steamed on. Witches got up day after day and shuffled sleepily to class, listened to their first teacher of the day with barely coherent minds, and moved on to the next. The next teacher would be heard more clearly, but with a slight amount of irritation as empty stomachs began to beg for food.

An unappetizing mix of potato based dishes and sessions of social interaction that bolstered the will of each girl, giving them the focus to get through two more classes.

They would collapse into bed hours later, and the same thing would happen the next day.

Sucy, who was feeling the monotony all too well, looked sleepily out the classroom window. Grey skies opened up, sending droplets of rain plummeting towards the earth, countless tiny beads splattering against the glass, making a rather pleasant sound.

Her left hand propped up her chin while the other hung under the desk in Akko's grip, the constant pressure and soothing movement helping to keep the brunette focused and on task.

Practical purposes aside, holding hands was just something the two girls liked to do; something they did often.

Akko's love of her dearest's fingers never waned, and took simple pleasure in running her thumb up, down, and around each digit.

Sucy on the other hand, loathe as she was to admit it, was hungry for affectionate gestures, making excuses at every turn to kiss the other witch, or hold her hand, or play with her hair.

Wanting more, Sucy shuffled her chair closer, linking their fingers together properly and leaning to rest her head on the brunette's shoulders. Akko didn't question it, as she knew a straight answer wouldn't be given, simply leaning her head into the alchemist's as she relaxed, closing her eyes.

The teachers words became muffled and far off as the brunette sat there and listened to Sucy's light breathing, feeling the silky softness of purple hair against her neck. The alchemist was acting different recently: initiating far more, teasing less, becoming generally quieter in favour of letting her touches speak for her.

There were even what looked like remorseful cringes when she watched Akko swallow down a new concoction, the smooth pen strokes on her clipboard jerking whenever the brunette had groaned in pain.

Though Akko couldn't hear the teacher through the deafening light breathing of the girl against her, she could at least continue writing down what was on the board and ask for clarification later.

After class while she was getting said clarification, she could see Sucy slowly packing her things, gliding over to the door to wait for her. The alchemist patiently stood until Akko finished with her notes, smiling ever so slightly to her when they walked out of the classroom together.

As they journeyed to the next class, Akko maneuvered a bit closer, bumping their shoulders together. The very edges of the alchemist's lips tweaked upward, her eyes staying forward but her body coming closer to return the affectionate bump.

Nothing seemed particularly wrong with her, she was still a bit playful, tiny but genuine smiles sent the brunette's way; Akko could ignore this silence as long as she was happy.

Lotte met up with them outside the classroom door, her badly hidden smirk giving away her excitement at seeing the two girls standing so close.

"I'm excited!" She beamed, adjusting her glasses with a free hand. "Today we get to actually cook something!"

Culinary magic was a class with far more writing and paper than one would expect, a fact that made creation days all the more awaited. "We should be sure to make something delicious!" The mousey Finish girl suggested energetically, eyes glazing over as she thought of the possibilities.

"Yeah, Akko! You gotta show Sucy you can be a good wife!" A hard pat came down on Akko's back, jolting her forwards and nearly knocking the witch off of her feet. Amanda shared Lotte's earlier smirk, though there was zero attempt to conceal it.

Sucy barely reacted to the poke at their relationship, only stepping in front of Akko to stop her if she fell. The alchemist stood there and just looked into her eyes, tilting her head every so often to get a different angle.

"I- That's! Amanda!" Akko stumbled, cheeks puffing out and glaring at the taller ginger's back as she entered the classroom. She marched in pursuit, only to be stopped by a grip on her wrist cuff: Sucy, one arm still hugged around her books, the other attached to the brunette's shirt.

Pulling her in a bit closer, Sucy butted their heads together, giving a smile at her dearest's slight grimace. They stood like that for a while, their eyes closed and breathing quietly, before Sucy said anything.

"She's right you know." She murmured, both of them opening their eyes to look at each other. "We can't always have takeout, and I doubt you'd trust me enough to cook you anything without 'special effects'." The viper's tongue shot out in a teasing gesture, a little bit of that normal Sucy coming back.

It took the other witch a moment to churn through the words, the actions, and the meaning behind them but eventually she pulled her head back and blinked.

Sucy had agreed with Amanda. It sounded like she had thought about the possibility before.

Who would make dinner.

How much takeout they would order.

The possibility of them sharing a life together.

She _had_ been thinking about it.

Akko huffed in amusement. One puff, then two, and then she was fully laughing. She wrapped her arms around the alchemist, squeezing tightly and rubbing their faces together as she giggled.

It made her heart soar, knowing that her spiky viper was thinking such soft and lovey dovey things.

"A...kk..o.." Sucy's pained gasp caused the brunette to recoil, scrambling back to catch the breathless alchemist when she nearly collapsed.

"Ah! Sucy I'm Sorryyyy!" Akko cried, guiltily watching as the alchemist coughed and sputtered.

Sucy relaxed into Akko's shoulder, letting her love hold her up as she caught her breath.

"W-What have I told you?" She admonished, shuffling the grip on her books. "You gotta be careful with me. I'm not invincible like you are."

The brunette nodded frantically, yanking the books from Sucy's arms to stack on top of her own. She should be putting her obnoxious strength to good use instead of harming the one she loves.

"You're sweet." The alchemist praised, cupping Akko's right cheek and pressing a kiss to her left. "Now come on, bake me something equally so."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Diabetus.**_

 ** _Oh boi my dudes its that time. The relationship is progressing, and Sucy is letting her future dreams slip._**

 _ **I can see the headlines now.**_

 _ **TINY CHILD MANIFESTATION OF DEEP-SEATED DESIRES: "I AM GROWING STRONGER."**_

 ** _Next chapter is some super gay cooking._**


	26. Cooking (Part 2)

_**A/N: Domesticy fluffy cooking segment get.**_

 _ **I got super stuck for no reason on this chapter. All I had to do was talk about making cupcakes, but hey writers block is weird sometimes.**_

 _ **Guest: Hey man thanks! I really appreciate the help! I'll make sure to shout out if I need any more! Thank you!**_

 _ **Cner: I've answered this question in the authors note of chapter 9 so check that out if you want a full length answer but tldr; It's a cool ship and I understand why people like it, but Sukko owns my soul. I don't think I'll ever write a dedicated Diakko fic, but there are already plenty of those to go around so It's not that big of a loss.**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Sucy is super mega gay and loves her clumsy waifu. This is 100% canon. Thank you for the review friend!**_

 _ **A Potato: Hey friend! Yeah that's a pretty good assumption. Yuri!Sucy is basically just that, the super gay Sucy. She squeals just as much as you or me when that top tier gay shiet happens. Thank you for the kind words my friend!**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this nice fluffy cooking chapter my friends!**_

* * *

"Settle down ladies!" Badcock called, taking her position at the front of the room. A hand rose to adjust her glasses as she glared at each young witch until they were silenced.

She cleared her throat, folding her arms behind her back. "Today you shall be evaluated on your ability to utilize tools and ingredients- magical and otherwise -in an efficient manner to create a dish within the time limit."

Picking up a stack of paper from her desk, Profesor Badcock maneuvered around each of the tables to hand them out. "You are to designate a dish from your textbook as today's goal; list the ingredients required and the implements you will be using. Only then may you begin."

As soon as the worksheet touched down on their desk, Akko got to work, frantically writing down the name and page of the most delicious thing she could find. The alchemist stood at her side, holding the book open to the correct page while looking around the classroom.

She met eyes with Lotte who gave her a kind smile as she filled the same role for Amanda, keeping the page from curling back. Over time, Sucy came to appreciate the girls' attempts to push her relationship with Akko. She certainly wasn't forging ahead of her own accord, and the little girl inside her head had resigned to simply fawn over her dearest.

"Okay Sucy!" The brunette spoke up. "Can you get a mortar, a nice big bowl, and uhh..." Akko paused, leaning over to reread the steps. "...A kiln plate. It doesn't have to be a big one."

Sucy smiled, letting the book fall shut. "Look at you, taking initiative." She hummed, placing a hand on the girl's head and thumbing gently.

Beaming brightly at her dearest's praise, Akko picked up the sheet and skipped up towards the front of the room; not even Badcock's scowl could dampen her shining smile.

It took a few moments of watching the brunette's retreating form before Sucy remembered the task she had been given, jolting from the hypnotic state she had fallen into.

The storeroom was a tad cramped, but Sucy- even with her recent tamer attitude -could easily create enough pressure to make the crowd part. She quickly found the things Akko had asked for, stacking the bowl on top of the kiln plate and putting the mortar and pestle inside.

There were a few more things on their table when she returned to it: flour, two purple eggs, what looked to be a jar full of teeth, milk from some sort of mammal, and many other small vials of powder.

As she waited for Akko to come back with more things, the alchemist carefully relegated their books to the floor as to give them more space to work. In the corner of the table she placed the kiln, making sure it was inactive and ready to be etched.

The brunette returned as Sucy was opening the bag of flour; in her arms she carried a cupcake pan, a pink brick of something, another smaller bowl, and a vial of white flowers.

"Speedy girl." Sucy commented, bring a hand to her chin in mock thought. "I could use a pack mule while making my potions."

She leaned forward a bit as Akko placed the bundle down carefully on the table, gently touching the girl's cheek. "You'd want to help me out wouldn't you?" Her half lidded eye bored deep into the brunette's, pulling a blush up from her heart.

"Well, of course but..." Akko trailed off, averting her eyes from the viper's smoldering gaze, a light tint of pink staining her face. She suddenly took a side step, picking up a measuring cup and the flour bag. "We need to get started on the cupcake mix!"

A giggle ripped forth from Sucy's throat. "You're cute." She squeezed her love tight, pressing a kiss to her cheek .

"Alright tell me what you need. We should have all the stuff right here." Enough time had been wasted on flirting, they needed to get down to business.

The first steps of the recipe called for the mixing of dry ingredients; flour, salt, and baking soda. On Akko's command, Sucy handed over one of the two vials, shaking the other rapidly. Crystallized dryad tears had the unfortunate property of sticking together in clumps when left to their own devices, but a forceful jostle was enough to rectify that.

When Akko had measured the approximate amount correctly, they traded vials, allowing the brunette to add a half teaspoon of the glittering blue crystals.

"Pass it here." The alchemist sugested, taking the large measuring cup and pulling out her wand. "I'll mix it while you do the next step."

As Akko cracked eggs and sliced butter into the bowl, Sucy twirled her wand around in circles, causing a small whirlpool to open up within the cup of powder and mix it thoroughly.

 _'Ahh...'_ The child in her head swooned, laying in the warmth of the sun. _'Cooking something side by side with your lover dearest...'_ Sucy could do little but agree, the domestic nature of it all brought back memories of her many dreams; married life, love, happiness. _'Some day...'_

"Okay! Next we need to crush the pixie teeth." Akko announced, picking up the small stone pestle and mortar. "Pour me a few? I think the book said around twenty for a quarter cup. We need two."

Pixie teeth were a notoriously effective sweetener in the magical world, and the Pixies knew it, sometimes intentionally knocking their own teeth out to sell for extra cash. Sucy chuckled, remembering Akko's face when first introduced to the concept. _"They grow back right?"_

Five at a time, the brunette used her abnormal strength to crush the teeth into powder, shaking as much sugary dust as possible out of the little bowl and into the big one while Sucy stirred.

"It says till light and fluffy, is this fluffy?" The alchemist questioned, pulling Akko's head to press their cheeks together. It looked pretty fluffy, like a small dog or woodland creature but purple; the girl's decided that was good enough.

Next, with Sucy still stirring the bowl, Akko alternated between pouring the dry mix and splashing in milk, turning it from a fluffy paste into a viscous syrupy goo. This goo was quickly poured out into the cupcake tin and placed atop the kiln plate.

"Do you remember the right etching?" Sucy checked as Akko carefully dragged her wand around the magic circle. "You promised me something sweet, I don't want charcoal." She plonked her chin on Akko's shoulder wrapping her arms around the girl as they leaned over the table together.

"It'll be fiiiine!" The brunette reassured. "Just get out the smaller bowl for the icing." No one was reassured.

Though when all was said and done, much to the surprise of everyone around them, the girls had a plate of purple and white cupcakes.

"Very surprising Miss Kagari." Badcock raised an eyebrow, writing down their completion with a smirk and taking a cupcake for herself. "It seems Miss Manbavaran is a good influence on you. Well done ladies."

Successfully graded and left to their own devices, the girls each picked up a treat and brought it to the other's mouth.

"Mmm." Sucy hummed, chewing through the deliciousness and swallowing. "Sweet, just like you promised."

The brunette beamed at the praise, nodding before shoving another purple cupcake into her mouth.

"We certainly make a good team. Perhaps dinner can be a job for both of us."

That was a nice thought. Tonight's dream would be lovely indeed.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Gud feed eachother. Yes.**_

 ** _Another four days, more fluff._**

 _ **I quite like it when you have other people commenting on how well our two lovebirds mesh. Maybe I'll incorporate that into the next chapter hmm.**_

 _ **Anyway my dear friends tell me how it was and I'll see you in a few days with more gay!**_


	27. Practical

_**A/N: Welcome back friends! In this episode of Girlfriends In All But Name: Rope, Physiotherapy, lots of kneading and massaging, gay.**_

 _ **Interesting work-times this chapter, the first half took me all of an hour and the second took roughly 6. So that's fun. INCONSISTENCY!**_

 _ **Shigiya: Hey thanks friend! Hah I'm glad you were slightly mortified by the teeth thing, because that is the correct non-witch reaction. Akko certainly had a similar one.**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you so much dear friend! Cupcakes baked with the sweeth teeth of pixies, ooh got my own sweet tooth tingling. For some reason when I think of baking cupcakes there is a big empty hole in my memory filled only with banana bread. I guess we make more banana bread than cupcakes in this family. Huh.**_

 _ **zealousrean: Ooh that could be fun! I'll take that into consideration! Thank you for the suggestion!**_

 _ **Touchy feely gay shiet.**_

* * *

There were many things Amanda had come to expect to see every time she opened the red team's door: Akko paralyzed and dying from toxins, Lotte quietly reading at the desk, Akko excitedly dancing around, and recently Sucy and the brunette snuggling.

What was in front of her currently did not quite fit into that list.

Akko was red-faced and wearing nothing, save for her dress shirt, undergarments and loosened tie. She was hanging from the ceiling upside-down, tightly bound in rope above what looked to be a yoga mat. Sucy was there, standing awfully close and brandishing her wand dangerously.

"You know I'm happy you two aren't dancing around each other anymore, I really am." She deadpanned, keeping a grip on the doorknob to block the others from entering. "But it would be nice if you could keep the kinky shit till past curfew."

The brunette flushed even deeper, unable to do anything but wiggle slightly in her bound state. Sucy remained unswayed, placing her hand on the brunette hip and looking characteristically bored with the intruder.

"We do keep it for after curfew, don't you worry." She droned with a slight twitch to the edges of her lips. "This is purely practical."

It was hard to tell when Sucy was fucking with you, as the girl had a poker face like no other. Amanda's brain took the possibilities uncertainty brought and ran with it, filling her head will thoughts of what the two would get up to while all others slept.

Knives probably; poisons too.

She visibly cringed.

Sucy took a step closer to her bound prey and jabbed the end of her glowing wand into the girl's thigh. Akko gave a slight jolt, closing her eyes and exhaling sharply. "Practical."

"Now buzz off." Sucy growled, massaging the muscle she had jabbed with her fingers. "I'm working here."

The girls behind Amanda at the door dispersed, whispering amongst themselves about what they had witnessed. The redhead stood and stared at Akko's relaxed for a second longer before turning lights down to half and throwing a wave over her shoulder. "Alright then. Just don't take too long or you'll have a masochist on your hands."

Amanda had already closed the door by the time either of them responded, but if she had lingered just a moment longer she would have heard the girl's shared sentiment.

"Too late for that."

Sucy increased the pressure on Akko's thigh, fully kneading the muscle tissue, pulling out the knots and unweaving scar tissue. The brunette bit her lip and clenched her fists hard, fighting through the pain, desperately awaiting the release and relaxation that came after. This was different than Sucy's love bites: longer lasting, sore, the difference between slicing a fruit and crushing it.

"Hey." The alchemist cooed. "Deep breaths okay? Relax for me." She halted her intense movements, gently stroking her dearest's soft skin. "It won't release if you tense it."

Akko tried her best, letting out a stuttered breath when the other witch's kneading became rough again.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

And with one final breath, the muscle released alongside it, rocketing pleasure and relief through the girl's body. Akko groaned, a weight she had never realized until that morning vanishing into the air.

Feeling the knot give way under her fingers, Sucy relented, pressing a sweet kiss to the tortured flesh. "Isn't that better?"

In her hazy bliss Akko almost couldn't hear the alchemist's words, but nodded slowly when her blood filled brain churned through the sounds.

"I'm gonna let you down now okay? Don't try to move." Channeling all of her focus into a levitation spell, Sucy brandished her wand, enveloping her dearest's body in a green glow.

The rope slipped free of their dormroom's ceiling beam and unraveled from around the brunette's ankles and stomach. Akko was slowly carried downwards in the alchemist's magic towards the floor; torso, arms, and legs touching down on the mat. Her head was released from the magical grip last, gently finding rest in Sucy's lap, blood slowly and carefully flowing back into her flesh and joints.

"We're gonna manually unravel what's left." Sucy murmured, taking hold of the girl's shoulders and carefully massaging the flesh. "All you need to do is breathe."

When Sucy pulled her aside that morning, asking if anything was wrong or hurting, the brunette was confused; she didn't feel different from any other day.

But Sucy noticed. Sucy always noticed.

 _"Your balance is different. The way your legs move is strained."_ Akko's brain filled with heated thoughts; Sucy watched her legs often enough to notice a change, what else was she keeping tabs on? Memories of Sucy feeling her up for injuries only increased the temperature within the brunette's mind.

 _"It's a mess of scar tissue in there."_ The alchemist had cringed, holding her calf in both hands and thumbing around a particularly sore spot. _"I'm fixing this today."_

Apparently the poison master knew quite a bit about physiology and alternative medicine.

And she was _good_ at it.

Akko sighed as her love's long skilled fingers rubbed into her shoulder muscles, gentle yet forceful circles releasing years of self inflicted injury.

A shudder flew up her spine as Sucy's massage continued, kneading deep into the scarred tissue of the brunette's well loved neck. A tiny whimper escaped through Akko's lips when the source of said scaring pressed the tips of a few fingers into the holes her teeth created.

"These scars are staying." The alchemist grumbled with a slight giggle, kissing gently against the side of Akko's head.

Pulling a pillow over, Sucy shifted out from under the girl's head, replacing her lap pillow with a real one.

Maneuvering over to the other side of Akko, the alchemist lifted one leg up over her shoulder so both hands were free to work their magic.

It took an enormous amount of willpower to not let their current positions distract her from the task at hand; a scene straight out of her dreams, complete with mostly naked Akko.

 _'There's nothing wrong with a little indulgence...'_ The voice in her head goaded, an audible smirk in her voice.

 _'Aren't you supposed to be my conscious or something?'_ Sucy thought back. ' _Shouldn't you be lecturing me?'_

Once the reality of the situation, that she was indeed talking to _herself,_ was returned to the alchemist, she refocused on Akko's leg, feeling for the previously discovered injuries. Once she found them, Sucy started the slow methodical process of manually working out the kinks, pulling and pushing against the now warmer and more malleable tissues.

From her spot on the floor, Akko was in a hazy bliss, relishing in her dearest's every touch; the way the alchemist knew her every bone and fibre, and where attention was most needed. She was being played like an instrument, and could only sigh happily and flush even deeper red as the entire world became unimportant.

But it was eventually over, much to Akko's dismay, and she let out a whine as her legs were placed back down on the mat. With a slight snicker, Sucy crawled across the brunette's body up to her face, giving a few kisses on the underside of the girl's jaw.

"And now you get to just lay here with me for a while." Her smirk became toothy as her hands drifted, one against Akko's bare hip, the other reaching up to cup her cheek.

"You quite like my hands don't you?" She asked teasingly, rows of sharp teeth interlocking as she smiled, her fingers curling against the girl's hip for emphasis.

The bright red girl beneath her nodded furiously, too flustered for cognizant speech.

A dark hunger swirled around in the puce viper's gut.

Nothing wrong with a little indulgence, right?

* * *

 _ **A/N: SUCY NO. SHE'S STILL RECOVERING.**_

 _ **This was a very**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _**chapter, one that I had to take great care to not barrel off the deep end into M ratings. This is a pure christian fic. Obviously.**_

 _ **I'd like to picture that Sucy, along with her yoga skills, picked up a bit of physio knowledge from living with Ramzan. It would certainly be useful in her future health store endeavors. Plus it's a backstory backed excuse for her to get all handsy.**_

 ** _My brain has suddenly shut down. So that's all the words for today!_**

 ** _Tell me how it was!_**


	28. A Special Feeling

_**A/N: Y'all almost certainly already know what this is. Lul. I hope all of you that are in the middle of or are finishing finals are doing well! Know that I am rooting for you!**_

 _ **Shigiya: Correctamundo my dude, Akko has many self inflicted injuries from over the years and Sucy, being a good not-girlfriend was manually fixing the scar tissue that remained. When that stuff builds up and never gets dealt with properly it can lead to a whole host of other problems. Thank you friend!**_

 _ **Guest: At some points she seems that way, but a sociopath is defined by a lack of conscience and extreme antisocial behaviours- two things that Sucy does not have. Though she may act like a jerk, Sucy does indeed care for her friends deeply and has been shown to have a conscience- however dysfunctional it may be. These pieces of her only continue to grow stronger as the show goes on, as she pushes through the damage her dumpsterfire of a childhood caused. Thank you for your question!**_

 ** _zealousrean: Lul. Akko has learnt to live with that little revelation the longer shes been 'with' Sucy. It's always really funny in Sukko fics whenever that aspect of their relationship is brought up and Akko just sighs in defeat. "GUESS I'M A SUB NOW ¯\\_ツ_/¯."_**

 _ **A Potato: Thank you so much friend! I'm glad you enjoyed the ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), it's always a fun thing to write. It's kind of like writing a cartoon these days. "How far can I go with this without crossing the line?" And as for Yoga, it really depends on your teacher and the kind of class. When I was doing it for my condition, I went specifically to a therapeutic class, where the main focus was stretching, breathing, and removing scar tissues. I had an insane tight spot in my chest and once it released my yawns no longer filled up my lungs; I could breathe in probably twice as much air.**_

 _ **yuri!Sucy at this point trusts Sucy's mental state enough to not butt in; instead just pushing her to be as gay as physically possible. She's gone from being the angle the the devel.**_

 _ **Time for old memes and also tons of gay.**_

* * *

"SUUUUUUUCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" A shrill excited cry echoed down the hallway, stopping the alchemist in her tracks. She turned halfway to see her love's brunette knot weaving through the river of witches. Fourty six kilograms of joy and determination barreled into Sucy at high speeds, almost knocking the witch off of her feet.

"W-woah woah!" She stuttered, stumbling to regain balance and tightening her grip on the brunette's shoulders. Her chest was heaving as she caught her breath, resting her head against Sucy's shoulder and puffing hot air directly into the alchemist's ear.

"What are you in such a hurry for bunny?" She teased, gently fixing the girl's messy hair. "Late for an important date?"

Sucy's jab went unanswered, the brunette pulling back to look at her love properly. Sucy searched her eyes for any sign of upset; on any other day Akko would have rebutted her, or at least laughed.

But Akko wasn't upset, in fact her rubies were wide and sparkling with glee. "Sucyyyyyy~" She sang, her mouth stuck in a wide and shining grin. "It's snowwwiiiiinggg!"

A quick glance to the right found the girl's words true. White powder fell from the sky in globs, singular snowflakes sticking together as they plummeted to the ground. There was already a light dusting over the courtyard's grass, the tallest blades still peaking above the blanket of white.

"So it is..." Sucy murmured, absentmindedly thumbing the brunette's skin. It had been a few years since she had personally seen snow, the recently hotter temperatures filling winter with mainly rain.

A tugging on her arm brought Sucy's attention back to the girl in front of her. Akko was bouncing on the balls of her feet, glancing excitedly out the window in a childlike manner.

The alchemist chuckled, lifting her hand to grip Akko's chin and turn it towards her. Without saying a word she leaned forward, kissing the girl on the very tip of her nose. "I would call you an idiot, but you're just too cute right now."

Akko flushed pink, happily fiddling with Sucy's fingers and averting her eyes. As the alchemist watched her love it suddenly hit her that Christmas was right around the corner. The gift she was making was taking longer than expected. The remaining week would probably be filled with a few all nighters, but she wanted to make sure it was perfect; Akko deserved no less.

"Would you like to take a walk in the snow?" That said, it would be counter-intuitive to ignore Akko during it all.

The brunette nodded frantically up and down, almost bolting for the stairs before Sucy leaned back and stopped her. "Hold on there hon. You're not dressed for the cold." She gestured in the direction of their dorm. "Let's get bundled up hey?"

Twenty minutes later they stood at the door, ready to step out into the snow. Akko's blue scarf wrapped around both of their necks, binding them together closely at the shoulders. In one hand Sucy held a navy blue umbrella, prepped to be opened; her dearest's gloved fingers in the other.

Other witches milled around in the courtyard ahead, shaping snow into elaborate sculptures with their wands or merely standing around to watch the powder fall.

A happy blush covered Akko's cheeks, her eyes shining as she looked out over the icy courtyard. "Its beautifuulll~" She sang, turning to smile up at the alchemist.

Sucy's half-lidded eye met her own, the edges of the mycophilic witch's lips rising. "It's alright." The pure white of freshly fallen snow was plenty pretty sure, but Sucy had seen far more beautiful things that year.

Opening up the umbrella Sucy led the girl out into the snow shielding their clothes from unnecessary wetness.

Akko held a hand out from their protective cover, allowing a few clumps of snow to fall and melt on her palm.

"Don't go making snow angels." Sucy chastised, lightly chuckling at the absolute wonder on the brunette's face as the snow piled on her hand. "I can't have you getting all soaked through."

"Come on idiot, bring that hand back in; it'll get cold." She tucked Akko's hand into her coat pocket, feeling the remaining snowflakes melt through her wooly gloves.

Akko seemed rather okay with it, snuggling her chilly nose deeper into their shared scarf and returning to simple viewing of the sky.

"Breaking News! Snow over Luna Nova!" An excited shout signaled the entrance of the Luna Nova News Network into the courtyard. Wangari the school anchor hopped over the stairs to land gracefully in the snow.

"The first snowfall of the season, and everyone is having fun!" She spun around on the spot sliding over to one group of witches and signalling for her photographer to snap a picture.

The couple stood in the snow watching Wagari interview a few of the students, snowflakes catching in her messy orange hair.

"And what do you think about the snow, Akko?" Wagari asked, bounding over to stick her mike in their face with a grin.

Akko shared the dark skinned reporter's smile, their shared energy combining to nearly deafening levels.

"Being in the snow with someone I love like this immerses me in a _special feeling._ It's amazing!" The alchemist averted her gaze with a slight blush, bashfully focusing on a bit of snow that had yet to be stepped in.

A camera flash made her jolt, gaze snapping back towards the Wangari and her photographer who were smiling together at the picture they had just taken.

"Oi!" Sucy objected, yanking the photo out of their hands with lightning speed. "Photography requires my consent! I signed the form!"

The news crew visibly deflated, slinking off to find more photogenic students. They would have grumbled something about the cost of camera film, but Sucy's aggressive scowl expedited the process.

"Let me see the picture!" Akko cried, slightly miffed about the sudden lack of hand holding and searching for consolation. The alchemist gave her so such thing however, swapping hands to hold the umbrella on her other side, keeping the picture out of reach to view it herself.

Akko's beaming smile took centre stage, leaning into the poison master's shoulder while she looked away. Sucy had to admit, it was quite a nice picture of the two of them: it showed them in a rather coupley situation while not compromising the front she put up. The slight tint to her cheeks was shared by everyone in the background, looking like only like a reaction to the cold rather than an embarrassed blush. In fact her face looked rather hard and serious.

"Sucy! Lemme see!" The brunette whined, hugging Sucy's arm tightly.

"No way." She barked. "Unsolicited photographs are to be destroyed immediately."

That was a lie. She would be doing no such thing.

* * *

 _ **A/N: She's gonna cherish that photo forever. That tsundere fuck.**_

 _ **The special feeling meme is so fucking cute, I just had to write about it. But hey if any of you with that art talent want to draw a Sukko version for me in your spare time fuckin go for it. I will die.**_

 _ **In other news Chapter 12 of A Rose in Winter is still delayed as fuck because I got tier 13 writers block out of nowhere at around 800 words in. On the plus side I did finally draw cover art for it so at least I did Something.**_

 _ **I'm now going to sulk at my word processor for a while.**_


	29. Restraint

_**A/N: Welcome back to my tiny little island in rairpair hell. This chapter is based on a suggestion by zealousrean! It detours a bit here and there but I hope it's what you pictured: good old fashion**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _ **!**_

 _ **Shigiya: You know I had to do it to em. Thank you friend!**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Thank you!**_

 _ **Guest: Anytime friend! It's always fun to answer questions so always feel free!**_

 _ **Magicantix: Thank you very much friend! Providing sugary content is my life's work! And eyyyy if you liked that part you're gonna enjoy this chapter**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

 _ **A Potato: Hah! I knew someone had to have drawn something like that already! It's such an Akko thing how could they not. And 100% Sucy is keeping the photo, hiding it under her pillow or something gay like that. THE TSUNDERE FUCK. Thank you my friend!**_

 ** _I hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

Contanze Amalie Von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger was a hard girl to faze- emoting at nothing but the greatest of scientific breakthroughs. This didn't make her a robot however, she still enjoyed life as much as any other teenage girl; she still loved her work and her friends.

It would be simpler to list what could crack her shell than what couldn't, as that was a very long list. A successful build, her Stan-bots doing silly things, and of course...

"Mm hang on Akko, you've got something right there."

Those two.

Sucy grasped the brunette's wrist, moving it from it's intended course and out of the way. She leaned closer, placing a hand on Akko's neck; observing the crumb sitting on the edge of her lip for a moment before moving all the way in.

The alchemist's serpent like tongue jutted out from her mouth, making light contact on the girls cheek and dragging upward. She certainly took her time, taking far longer than the quick flick a crumb required.

Pulling back, she grinned impishly at Akko's stunned face, at the red flush crawling quickly up her neck. "Don't worry my messy little piggy, I got it~" She hummed with a teasing sultry tone, causing Akko's hung open mouth to snap shut in an attempt to regain willpower.

This had been happening all day.

At the early hours of the morning, Sucy had wordlessly challenged her dearest to what could only be described as 'a bait-off': performing uncharacteristically sensual acts, seeing how far they could push it before one of them cracked and reciprocated.

Akko, competitive as she always was, took the game seriously, while Sucy just enjoyed the teasing. But eventually, after the strategically shorter skirts, puppy eyes, bitten lips, and sudden brunettes in her lap, the viper became equally serious.

In all honesty it was the most Constanze had ever smiled, watching the two lovers flush red and then pretend like they weren't dying to get their hands on eachother.

"I'm n-not the only messy one." Akko stuttered, picking up the alchemist's fingers from its place around her wrist. "You're getting soup on me!"

Everyone else at the table watched and waited, their minds on the size of the betting pool; already knowing what Akko would fire back with.

"Let me get it, since you were kind enough to help me~" Oh yeah this was definitely happening.

With little ceremony the brunette brought Sucy's hand up to her mouth and began licking, up and down two of the alchemist's fingers as she closed her eyes. Her tongue twirled around each digit, cleaning off every drop of the creamy mushroom soup before taking one fully into her mouth to suck up the remainder.

Sucy's face was priceless: the wide and slightly twitching eye, the lip curled in horror, it was a herculean feat for the other girls to not show their amusement.

Akko was finally finished, freeing the finger from between her lips and curling all five down into a fist with a bright smile. "Yummy!" Was all she said, locking eyes with her love.

The alchemist suddenly stood up, and without a word, fists clenching hard at her sides, she stomped out of the cafeteria to places unknown.

There was a sound of glass breaking.

Following Sucy's steps once their appetites were satiated, the girls found no trace of what had been broken, instead learning via witnesses that the hormone ravaged viper had punched a window before repairing it and slinking away.

Amanda burst out laughing, doubling over at the absurdity of it. "S-She-!" She could barely talk, amusement ripping from her lungs in waves, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Lotte stood at the taller redhead's side with a frown, her brows creasing with concern. There wasn't any blood around, so Sucy may have not been cut by the glass, but that did not mean zero injury; fractured bones, internal bleeding, possible nerve damages.

Though usually equally concerned at any mention of harm coming to her love, Akko cried out in joy, thrusting her arms up in the air. "Hahah! I'm winning!" The thrill of victory fogged her brain, blocking out more important concepts like mortality and empathy.

The Finnish girl made a point of reminding her, putting her hands on her hips. "Akko!" She reprimanded. "Sucy's probably hurt herself! Your silly competition can wait!"

It was like a fan had been switch on inside the witch's head, blowing away the adrenaline and mist; filling Akko with the correct emotion.

"Sucy!" She shouted, dropping her hands and breaking into a sprint down the hallway, barreling through other witches and shoving them aside.

Constanze watched her go, worriedly racing to be at her dearest's side, and smiled. Such a beautiful thing, love; sweeter than a box of Jasminka's bonbons.

"Nice."

Akko raced from student to student, speaking at a mile a minute, asking if anyone had seen the alchemist go by. Diana was milling around in the hall, presumably discussing upcoming functions with others.

Diana would know. She knew everything.

"DIANAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She screeched, sliding to a stop in front of the platinum blonde.

"Miss Kagari, please." Diana scolded, her eyes shutting to speak like they tended to. "One must keep their voice at a reasonable volume in order to have a proper conversation."

The brunette took a deep breath, holding back the planned retort and sticking to the more important issue. "Good afternoon, Diana." She began as polite and proper as possible, and with as delicate a tone as she could. "I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen Sucy pass by recently?"

Nodding once in approval, Diana opened her eyes. "Just like that, Miss Kagari. And yes, Miss Manbavaran passed by seven or so minutes ago. She was presumably heading to your shared dorm."

Without even a goodbye, Akko rocketed off down the hallway; the students parted around her, not wishing to be trampled over. Diana simply sighed and returned to her conversation.

It was dark when she entered their room; the drapes were shut, a single light bathing the room in oranges. A familiar head of purple hair sat at the desk, her wand moving above her hand with focused precision in the lamplight.

"...Sucy?" Akko called out quietly, closing the door behind her with as much care to not interrupt the alchemist's work.

She didn't respond, instead making a final few movements above her wrist and standing silently from the chair.

The lights went out entirely, darkness eveloping the room. Akko couldn't see a thing, only the hand in front of her face barely visible. "Sucy?"

 **"Mmm... you certainly made me do something silly didn't you?"**

Her voice echoed to the brunette's right, dripping with something dark. "I-I did... I'm sorry it got so out of hand!" She called in the vague direction that Sucy's voice had come from.

 **"I don't think apologies will be enough. I'm gonna need something from you in return."**

This time the viper's voice came from the exact opposite side of the room, messing with Atsuko's sense of space. "Like... Like w-what?" She stuttered blindly into the dark, giving up on facing her love entirely.

There was a gust of wind and suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, Sucy's lithe form slithering around her body, breathing hot against her neck.

 **"You know what I want."**

Akko gulped audibly, gnawing on the bottom lip as butterflies fluttered inside of her. She wanted submission, obedience, _blood._

Sharp teeth nipped at the brunette's earlobe, a dark chuckle puffing hot air straight into her ear. Sucy's hands drifted in different directions, one sliding down towards the girl's hip, the other coming up to run the alchemist's knuckles against Akko's cheek.

 **"I'm not gonna say I don't bite... We both know that's not true."**

And so Akko gave herself up, unbuttoning a her shirt as much as needed and craning her head away, allowing the hungry viper propper access. Sucy held onto her neck on the opposite side so she could relax, placing a kisses over each dent in her skin.

 **"Mmm..."** Sucy hummed against the flesh, sending vibrations through the brunette's body. **"This is coming along nicely. Maybe one day I'll be able to do this while you sleep..."**

The other witch shivered, whimpering in protest. "N-N...No.." She stuttered out. "I always want to be awake for this."

She could feel the wide smile Sucy made against her neck, sinister laughter flowing into her ears, her willing admission pleasing the alchemist greatly.

 **"Good."**

And then she dug in.

Contanze Amalie Von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger was a hard girl to faze, but when she saw those two later in the day, sitting side by side, clothes a little ruffled, and holding hands on top of the desk, she smiled.

"Beautiful."

* * *

 _ **A** **/N:** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**_

 _ **Constanze being a diehard Sukko shipper is the highest quality concept this brain has ever produced. The duality of Akko and Sucy's relationship is another fun concept; on one side, Sucy is damaged, lonely, and in need of love; on the other, she's a dom vampire with an aggressive libido .**_

 _ **We have fun here in fanfic land.**_

 ** _These author's notes and reviews included, this chapter is about as long as the current chapter of A Rose in Winter. I'm gonna focus really hard on that for the next few hours; hopefully It will be done today._**


	30. Gift Shopping

**_A/N: This took lot longer to finish than was expected. The sun is fully up. How did it come to this._**

 ** _In other news the next probably 2 chapters have been planned out! So at least there's that. Perhaps I won't fuckin suck._**

 ** _Magicantix: I'm glad friend! Its always a pleasure to make people's hearts go doki doki._**

 ** _Shigiya:_** ** _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_** ** _That's the idea friend, tread as close to that line as possible without going over it. Because its more fun that way. I believe I will return to that competition at a later date so look out for it!_**

 ** _A Potato: I'm glad you enjoyed the_** ** _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) friend. And you can be certain Sucy will be ruining that neck for years to come. Thank you!_**

 ** _zealousrean: Oh yeah man, Sucy is dangerous as heck. But the other girls know that, and are keeping their distance. She's made her claim so there's no escape. :)_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy this slightly less fluffy chapter!_**

* * *

If one were to walk into the red team's dormroom at that moment they would be either confused or amused. The entire room was covered wall to wall in Christmas decorations; tinsel, holly berries, baubles, lights, the whole shebang. Pacing in the centre of the room also covered in lights and tinsel was Akko, hand to her chin in thought. A stressful aura jettisoned out from her at high speeds, filling the room with a heavy atmosphere.

"Akko..." Lotte squeaked. "Please just calm down..." She sat on the desk's spinning chair, hands bunching her tights at the knees. The brunette had slowly increased her speed over time, walking faster and faster in a circle, now matching speed with the model train on the floor.

Akko began gnawing at her lip, side-eyeing the girl as she continued to pace. "Calm down? How can I calm down?" Christmas was only a few days away and she had yet to buy a gift for Sucy; the longer she searched for that perfect gift, the further guilt and panic ate through her.

"W-We can go into town again today. I will find it! The greatest gift!" Every chance they could get, whenever Sucy was busy with her alchemy or just needed alone time, they went to as many stores as they could, but it was impossible to come to a concrete decision.

Taking a careful breath and closing her eyes for just a second, the bespeckled girl stood. "Maybe we just need a second or third opinion? We could invite some of the others."

It was a sound plan; a computer with more cores ran faster and ran hotter, hopefully that metaphor transferred over to humans in both ways, it was still snowing after all.

"Yes! Lets go right now!" The brunette made a bolt for the door, but was tugged backwards by the end of the string of lights that was still connected to the wall. Akko tumbled backwards from the sudden jolt, tripping over the model train and crashing down to the floor with a thud.

Lotte could only sigh.

In the end only Jasminka and Constanze could come, as Amanda had detention and was not allowed to leave the school. The small German and stocky Russian were rather enthusiastic about helping her find a gift for Sucy, the former dropping her pen in the middle of sketching blueprints to join in.

"Maybe she would just like some more of those cupcakes?" Jasminka offered, holding her large cup of coco in both gloved hands. "She seemed to really like them!" Though her bright and friendly smile made Akko's frown flip around, she still shook her head.

"No... I wouldn't be able to hide it from her. It needs to be a surprise!" The brown haired witch slammed a fist down into her palm with a determined fire. She was rather adamant on the Christmas tradition of surprising the ones you love with the gift's contents.

Constanze popped her head out from inside the larger girl's fluffy coat, her face serious as always but with a rare sparkle in her eyes. She brought her hands up for Akko to see; her left's finger and thumb holding the ring finger on her right and sliding down to the knuckle.

"Ehh?!" The brunette recoiled with a deep flush. "It's a bit too soon for that don't you think?!"

The little German shook her head, performing the gesture again. Lotte chuckled, politely covering her mouth with her wool covered hand. "I agree with Constanze. Perhaps jewelry of some description would make a good gift. Do you know what would suit her?"

Redness slowly dissipating from her cheeks, Akko looked off to the side in thought. "Nothing too fancy or flashy. Sucy likes the simpler things." It was the best she could say, as Sucy had never brought up jewelry in all the time they had been friends.

"And no rings." She narrowed her eyes at Constanze who seemed a little too excited for comfort, her blush flaring just a bit at the thought of getting a ring for Sucy. "Not this year."

The three other girls seemed to visibly deflate, though still kept their high spirits as walked the length of the town.

In a small corner street Akko had never seen before they found a small antique store, a weather-worn wooden sign spelling out the name in cursive. As soon as the door opened, the girls were assaulted many sights and smells: the must of old books, the sweet aroma of burning wood; many rows of glass cases and shelves filled the room, no persistent theme to their contents.

A small bell chimed as the young witches entered, and a woman in thick robes walked out from the back room to greet them.

"Good afternoon ladies. Are you here to purchase?" Her smile was small but genuine, her eyes drooping in a way reminiscent of the girl they were shopping for.

Lotte bowed slightly to which the shopkeep reciprocated. "Yes Madam. We are hoping to find a gift for our friend."

The woman's almost nonexistent eyebrows raised upon further inspection of the girls uniforms. "Ahh, Luna Nova yes?" She closed her eyes, smile growing. "I remember those days... Such wonder to be found in the branches of Yggdrasil."

Her reminiscence lasted only a short time, opening her eyes and removing her hands from within the billowing sleeves of her robes. "But you didn't come here to listen to an old woman babble. Do you have an idea of what you're looking for?"

Akko nodded, eyes searching the glass cases in front of them. "Um... jewelry of some kind? That's as far as I got." Her fingers tapped anxiously against the glass, always moving her gaze to the next object, never staying on one thing for too long.

"Mmm yes, I should have just the thing." Leading the girls over to one of the farthest cases, the woman lifted its contents up onto the counter.

"What's your sweetheart's style?" She asked, to the brunette's embarrassment. The other girls giggled off to the side, smiling at the shopkeep's perceptiveness.

"She uh..." Akko stuttered, glaring at her friends. "She hates things that stand out, so nothing too glitzy."

There were all manner of broaches, rings, earrings, and necklaces; some ridiculously shiny, others not. The woman explained to the girls that some pieces were enchanted, dropped off by financially challenged witches over the years.

"I wouldn't advise purchasing this one." She warned, picking up a dark metallic ring with her finger and thumb, holding it out and far away from everyone. "It stinks of curses."

"But this..." Her hand hovered over a lovely necklace, silvery with a deep red ruby set in the centre that was reminiscent of the brunette's scarlet gaze. Akko's brain was suddenly filled with sentimental thoughts, sickeningly sweet things she could say, and she knew.

"I want that one." She declared, a burning fire in her expression. "It's perfect."

The shopkeep laughed, picking up the necklace for the girls to get a closer look. "Your friend seems like she would be the sentimental sort. It would be nice for her to have something that reminds her of you."

"One look and she'll think of your eyes..." Lotte swooned, pressing her palms against her face at the romance of it all. Constanze agreed, hopping up next to the brunette to show her support of the decision.

Her face turned serious. "Buy it."

Peer pressure was ultimately the brunette's downfall, blowing most of what she had saved up in the end.

"Wait for me my sweet mint condition figure..." Akko sobbed, holding the necklace box to her chest. "My love life must come first."

Across the city and down a leyline, a certain alchemist sneezed.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Ahh the stresses of buying gifts for your lover. This is another chapter where I may or may not have injected a bit of myself into the scene. Me and my girlfriend are both incredibly sentimental and gushy and therefore most of my gifts have some sort of meaning behind it.**_

 _ **I believe Sucy would be similar: she has been shown to hold specific things very dear, like the memories of meeting Akko or the relay race. And having a reminder of her love's big beautiful eyes will make that tsundere go doki doki for sure.**_

 _ **I'm gonna die now. Happy holidays.**_


	31. Moonlit Christmas

_**A/M: Mele Kalikimaka! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or equivalent with your friends and family, I certainly did! And as a gift to you cherished friends I give 1700 words of Sukko Christmas with an added bonus.**_

 _ **DuwangChew: Thank you friend! I'm glad you enjoyed! Defender Kagari seems to be leaking into this timeline, such self sacrifice for the sake of Sucy. Its beautiful ;-;**_

 _ **Shigiya: I hope it was worth the wait friend! Thank you!**_

 _ **A Potato: Thank you friend, I hope you had a Merry Christmas! My girlfriend is always stressing over what to get me, overthinking and panicing when it doesn't automatically come to her. But in the end she always gets me the most wonderful things. Like last year for my birthday she gave me all the materials for a Gw2 Legendary I had been fawning over for years. Needless to say I screamed. And the necklace! I also do not know too much about jewelry but Akko dropped roughly 300-500ish dollars on it high quality silver and real ruby? Plus age? $$$ But what an act of love to give up her mint condition Chariot figure for it. Akko's love is so pure.**_

 ** _I hope you enjoy this little chapter of gift giving!_**

 ** _Edit: Aww sheet there was a bit of a formatting fuckup at the end there a whole section was cut off. MY BAD._**

* * *

Winter Solstice festivals were typical in the magical world: acknowledging and venerating that darkest and deepest part of winter for the energies it brought to spellcraft and the limit it gave.

But this year was a tad different; the precedent set by the Halloween ball making a Christmas party an almost certainty. Akko and her friends were elated: Lotte crafting everyone cute outfits, Jasminka hovering around Diana with suggestions for the menu, Constanze secretly hanging mistletoe in places her favourite two lovebirds were likely to walk.

The brunette danced and twirled in her Christmasy dress, thick black tights making holding down the skirt a non issue. This was where she felt at home, in the spotlight, filling the rest of the room with energy.

The sudden shrill tinging of a glass brought all attention towards the front of the auditorium, to Professor Holbrooke who was donned in a resplendent take on the Catholic Saint Nicholas.

"Attention ladies!" She called, taking the time while the witches quieted down to adjust her Christmas themed witch's hat. "That concludes our Solstice celebration! Curfew has been push ahead by two hours, you are free to roam the grounds and exchange gifts."

Akko ripped towards the corner where Sucy stood in a red version of her usual practical school uniform topped with an adorable Santa hat. The brunette beamed brightly, burning away her darling's anxiety enough for her to smile back.

She grabbed Sucy's hands, stepping a bit closer and swinging them back and forth between them. "I'm so excited to give you your present!" Akko sang, tilting her head slightly.

"Yeah. I hope it's good enough." The alchemist attempted a tease, but was noticeably too nervous to put her whole heart into it. "I worked pretty hard on yours, so you better appreciate it."

The others caught up to Akko, their arms full of presents and smirking at the pair; Sucy immediately hardened her face into a neutral mask, not letting them see her nerves.

"Wow enough with the lewd handholding." Amanda snarked through a skull-pattered muffler. "There are minors here." Though not her usual style, Lotte's handiwork was unmistakable, the handcrafted garment making the taller ginger look even more like a delinquent.

Constanze offered out her wrapped box to Akko first, mirroring the brunette's own excited grin. As was expected, the witch ravenously tore through the paper and opened the box to different kind of surprise.

A mechanical arm shot out of the box, stretching up into the air to dangle a piece of mistletoe above Sucy's head. The alchemist stared at the offensive plant for a whole two seconds before looking back down at her supposed friends.

Each of them grinned devilishly, one by one beginning to chant until even those uninvolved joined in. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

"You are all traitors." She growled, struggling as hard as humanly possible to not blush.

Akko's beaming smile didn't falter in the face of public goading, and with little ceremony she gave in to their demands, leaning in to place a kiss on the left side of Sucy's lips.

She froze solid, her eyes bugging out of her head. Akko's lips were soft like rose petals, warm from the blood flowing through her energetic body; it made a spark run down the alchemist's spine to her toes.

Sucy's world became hazy, and suddenly it was difficult to stand, specks of black creeping into her vision. She could feel the flush filling her face with blood, collapsed forward, and the next thing she knew was blackness.

When consciousness finally returned, the first thing Sucy noticed was the contrasting temperature: everything from her toes to her face was comfortably warm, the back of her head especially with whatever warm softness she was relaxing on, but her cheeks and tip of her nose were rather chilly.

She could smell something fruity, it felt familiar, comforting as the hand that stroked through her hair. The fog began to dissipate and Sucy breathed in, snuggling further into the warmth around her when the icy air filled her lungs.

"Hey there you are..." Akko's voice sounded out from somewhere above her, a soft murmur that brought memories of that day she was sick back into her mind.

Her eyes fluttered open to see an angel hovering over her, brown hair framing a round happy face. "Are you feeling better?" Akko's voice asked through the angel's lips, sending a shot of adrenaline ripping through the alchemist's foggy brain.

Sucy jumped, taking an actual look around. She was laying on a bench, her head pillowed on Akko's thighs, a large blanket surrounding the both of them to fight off the claws of winter.

"I... I think so..." She responded once their eyes had met again, and though Akko's covered legs were incredibly comfortable, begrudgingly sat up, careful as to not pass out again.

The brunette was just as cute as earlier, her Christmas theme uniform making her look like an adorable elf. _"The Mrs. Claus to your Santa!"_ She had said.

Sucy shuffled a little bit closer to wrap the blanket around their shoulders and protect her dearest from another cold. Akko turned away for a second

"This is for you~" The brunette sang with a bright beaming smile, turning back and offering a small box wrapped in deep purple paper. "And don't worry, I didn't open my gift while you were out. It's right next to you."

Of course Akko got her something, she was always so excited about holidays like this, though the alchemist wasn't going to deny how it made her heart skip. She was impressed at the girl's restraint, knowing the lack of patience she had, waiting for someone to wake up must have been torture.

"Thanks..." Sucy murmured.

She carefully undid the ribbon, and began peeling back the wrapping paper crease by crease, much to her love's visible pain.

Inside was a lovely silver necklace; the weight told her that it was the real deal, and probably expensive.

It wasn't too flashy or too gaudy, and only a single gemstone was found anywhere; a perfectly cut red ruby, the exact colour of Atsuko's eyes and with all the sparkle.

The alchemist couldn't say anything, utterly baffled that anyone would spend this much money on her out of all people. She didn't deserve this.

"Something to remind you of me if we're ever apart." Akko explained with a soft smile that made the mycophiliac's heart beat faster. "No matter how far I may wander off; no matter for how long, I'll always come home."

Sucy stared down at the gorgeous ruby fitted into the centre, her mouth stuck open in shocked awe. The corners of her eyes stung at Atsuko's disgustingly sweet words, and she clenched her jaw hard to fight back the tears. No one would ever see her cry, not even Akko. Never.

Hiding her face behind a veil of puce hair, she gently butted her head against the brunette's: a gesture that was well known to both of them as one of deep affection.

"I can't believe you could think about something so hard." Sucy tried to poke, though not enough effort could be put in to make it sound genuine. "I love it." She admitted, voice smaller than the brunette had ever heard. "And I love you."

They stayed there for a while, wrapped in the blanket, breathing together; watching how every exhalation formed light clouds of moisture in the air.

When her innermost layer of walls repaired itself enough, Sucy spoke again: a little more forceful, a little more playful. "Now I gotta show _you_ up with _my_ gift. I took forever so you better be grateful!"

Using one hand to keep the blanket wrapped around her, she took the wrapped rectangular box from beside herself and offered it out to the brunette with a tiny smile. "Merry Christmas."

A moment of hesitation was all Akko gave before excitedly tearing through the paper and tossing the box's cover high up into the air. Two vials of equal size sat in the box, a pink and orange fluid churning inside, almost like a dance.

She looked up at her love with confusion and curiosity, searching her eyes for any malicious or impish intent. There was none.

The alchemist just smiled, taking a vial for herself and offering the other to the gift's recipient. "Drink it together yeah? Give me your arm."

With a few quick and pourposeful movements, their arms were linked together at the elbow, each girl bringing their vial up to their lips. Akko still wasn't sure about any of it, but if Sucy was going to drink it too, it couldn't be dangerous. "To us." She offered in a toast.

"To us." Sucy responded, smiling genuinely before downing the entire thing in one go.

It was warm as it slid down her throat, filling her stomach with a feeling not unlike nervous butterflies. "Sucy what..." But before she could ask, the warmth spread, throughout her entire body it chased away any sign of the icy evening and turned her skin a light pink.

The butterflies faded away and she started to feel lighter, the air feeling thicker around her though no harder to breathe. The alchemist smirked at her, taking the vials and setting them aside before pulling her up to standing with both hands.

One hand disconnected from the brunette, raising up in the air to push down like one did while swimming up towards the surface of the pool. Seconds later they were both off the ground, floating in the air while leisurely kicking their feet against gravity.

"You always wanted to fly." Was all Sucy said, kicking a bit harder and pulling her love higher up into the sky.

Akko tried to help out the other witch in flying upwards, treating it like she was at the beach and kicking with her feet. She smiled, huffing a laugh. Once, twice, three times and it became full on giggling. "I d-did!"

When they were a sufficient height off the ground, Akko grabbed the alchemist, hugging her tightly in joy. "You're the best, and I love you." She laughed, taking care not to crush her love with her unnaturally strong hugs.

"I try." Sucy smiled back, biting the bullet and returning the hug, her built up happiness and affection releasing itself in one of the tightest hugs she had ever given. Her heart was bursting with love, overflowing with everything she had tried to hold back for months.

And then their lips were on eachother's.

Sucy couldn't stop herself, no matter how red it made her face, or how lightheaded the feeling of the brunette's sweet lips made her. She couldn't stop. And really didn't want to.

Flying high above anyone who could interrupt them or judge her for such things they shared their first real kiss, silhouetted against the pale Christmas moon.

* * *

 _ **A/N: On the 14th day of Christmas, Kaponos gave to me~ FINALLY A FUCKING SMOOOOOOOOOCH.**_

 _ **Merry Christmas you beautiful bastards. I love you all.**_


	32. Fireworks

_**A/N: Happy New Year my friends! Welcome to 2018! I hope you had a wonderful holidays with your friends and families and here's to a safe and happy year for us all.**_

 _ **ThatFanFicGuy: I second that! Thank you so much my friend, I'm so glad you've stuck with my works for so long and enjoyed them; your kind words mean the world to me.**_

 _ **Shigiya: That's my dastardly plan, to flood the world with so much fluff that everyone suffocates and goes into diabetic comas.**_

 _ **Magicantix: Thank you friend! Your tears of joy are my sustenance. I thought it was about time, and Constanze would definitely go for the mistletoe strike at Christmas so it was the perfect opportunity. I hope your holidays were as joyful as mine friend!**_

 _ **A Potato: Merry Christmas my friend. I felt that double smoochies were an adequate present for you all, and from what I've heard in feedback, my assumptions were correct. Thank you so much!**_

 _ **And yeah I'm not sure what happened with that, there was a whole section cut off in the document. I probably fucked something up, but it's fixed now!**_

 ** _I've had a few issues with the middle of this chapter as I had already exceeded the word quota with just the beginning and ends. I then fell into the vicious cycle of WritersBlockStressProcrastinateBlockGetsWorse. Shit sucked._**

 ** _But its done! And I hope you all enjoy it._**

* * *

Sucy Manbavaran used to have a rather negative view of birthday parties, which became joy when the date of her birth was actually acknowledged and cared about.

But in a house so full of people, it was always someone's birthday. always a party being thrown. And over the years the alchemist's special day turned into just another party without meaning.

 _"It doesn't have a meaning."_ The elderly witch had said when a younger Sucy voiced her concerns. _"It instead has feelings."_

The concept of birthdays was still new to her at that point, having never received anything like it in all her years before living with Ramzan. Sucy had tilted her head at her adopted mother, a silent plead to elaborate further.

 _"It's about the ones you love giving thanks for your existence. A day to reflect on how their lives would be lacking without you."_

She remembered huffing sardonically on this day just a year prior, Ramzan's words echoing in her head. _"People would be better off without me."_ She had growled, looking at her pale and creepy face in disgust.

"Sucy~ wakey wakey!"

This year was different however.

Akko was bent over the alchemist desk, her face supported by elbows resting on the wood, hands squishing her cheeks cutely. Her smile was bright and sunny; her eyes twinkling with excitement and passion. Sucy wished she could get that excited about something.

The birthday girl rolled her face away from the window towards her girlfriend, the rays of light shining from her teeth causing Sucy's mask to crumple. She smiled back, swapping the hands used to prop up her face.

"I've been awake for many hours now Akko; been awake for the whole class." Sucy snarked, using her non supportive hand to poke the brunette's nose. "Unlike someone I know."

Akko's face scrunched up from a mix of pressure to her olfactory system's main organ and the alchemist's jab. "But it's your birthdayyyy! We need to throw you a big party!"

"Please don't." The alchemist huffed desperately, pouting and giving Akko the closest thing she had to puppy dog eyes. "I don't want a party, I don't want anything loud. All I need is a nice evening with our friends."

The girl seemed to deflate slightly, her dreams of bombastic celebration shutdown, but straightened her spine in a rare show of discipline. "Alright. Anything you like Sucy, It's your birthday!"

Sucy's smile returned, a small but genuine thing that made the brunette's heart skip. "We can watch tonight's fireworks if you like. Bring a few blankets to stay warm?"

Cuddling together on that bench at Christmas was a new addition to the alchemist's favourite memories; something about having a pocket of warmth all to themselves, sustained by their beating hearts, was incredibly cozy to her.

Nodding excitedly at the proposition, Akko pushed her hands against the desk and leaned closer, pressing a sweet peck to her girlfriend's forehead. "It'll be the best fireworks watching ever! Just for you!"

"Just don't go overboard."

But that would be difficult, as for Atsuko Kagari, going overboard was as natural as breathing.

Her next few classes were without Akko, and were mostly spent accepting nervous well-wishes from her frightened classmates that wanted to stay in her good books. It was exhausting, responding to hollow words that held no feeling behind them, though the rare few girls who genuinely wished her the best made it bearable.

Jasminka was one of those rare few, greeting the birthday girl with a bright smile and a homemade cupcake. It was purple with white frosting, like those Akko prepared in culinary class, though further care was taken to make it look like a species of mushroom.

"No matter how much you dislike people, you still gave us a chance. This is to say thanks, for being our friend." Now that was feeling, and it hit Sucy right in her still defrosting heart.

"Thank you Jasminka." She murmured with real gratitude, a tiny smile forming as she watched the kindly Russian light the candle.

She could have said something similar, about how grateful she was for Akko's friends treating her as one, but that would have gotten too real too quick.

"Make a wish." Constanze demanded as she appeared suddenly beside the larger girl.

A part of the alchemist resented Constanze for forcing mistletoe over her head at Christmas, but that was overwhelmed by a loud majority that was grateful for the push.

"Can I take a rain-check on the wish? I don't have anything right now." Although she didn't particularly believe in the magic of birthday wishes, Ramzan raised her to never waste one on something frivolous; the sentiment still stuck.

"You have until midnight." Constanze agreed, stone-faced as ever but with a glint in her eyes.

Midnight came quicker than the alchemist expected, the entire afternoon and evening eaten up by mindless fun with her friends and favourite girl.

Sticking to the birthday girl's wishes while still keeping that party spirit, Akko had stuffed their dormroom with balloons, streamers, and other decorations but constrained the celebratory events to a simple marathon of some of the alchemist's favourite movies.

The movies were entertaining enough, but what Sucy found infinitely more so was having a quivering Akko snuggled tight against her during the movies' more gruesome moments.

She wrapped a comforting arm around the girl's body, pressing three kisses to her temple; from that moment onward, Akko kept her overactive imagination busy by choosing different snacks to feed to her girlfriend.

It was such a haze of cuddles, kisses, and general sugar that Sucy sort of floated along for hours on end, her hand never separating from Akko until the time had come to watch the fireworks show.

They had found a spot on the hillside a little ways away from the actual gathering, benches magically grown out from the tree's bark to give them a dry place to sit. Almost everyone in the alchemist's sight had a thick blanket around their shoulders; some blankets held multiple people, all cuddled together to efficiently generate heat.

Around them people started chanting, counting down the time left in the year while looking up at the sky.

"Ten!"

The alchemist looked to her left and right, at all of her friends sharing this night with her.

"Nine!"

Constanze and Jasminka had a video camera moving across the field, capturing the last moments of the year, and preparing to capture the first of the next.

"Eight!"

Amanda winked at her, gesturing to the brunette and making an obnoxious kissy face.

"Seven!"

Lotte caught her gaze, smiling brightly before returning her eyes to the stars. Her glasses were missing from her face, placed carefully in her lap, and Sucy could see how much the girl had grown. Akko seemed to bring out that growth in people.

"Six!"

This is what she wished for, thinking back to the past year and how quickly her life had turned around. Real friends that treasured her existence, the future ahead bright, Akko at her side. She wanted what she had now, wished for it to remain until the end of days.

"Five!"

Sucy turned her head to the brunette, who had joined in with the chorus, counting down excitedly, her ruby red eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Four!"

Akko looked so damn cute, cuddled up against the alchemist's arm, head of chocolate brown hair resting on her shoulder, cheeks flushed pink from the cold outside their wool sanctuary.

"Three!"

And as the year ticked to a close, Sucy's heart overflowed with a sudden uncontrollable urge; she cursed Amanda's name for putting the idea into her head. But it wasn't too bad of an idea: wasn't there a thing about kissing someone as the year turned over?

"Two!"

 _'Fuck it.'_ The need burned through her reservations and the alchemist turned, lifting a hand to Akko's cheek. Their gazes met, half lidded to curious.

"One!"

The sky lit up in gorgeous plumes of colour, sparks showering down from the sky like falling stars. The crowd around them cheered, oohing and ahhing as the new year began with a bang.

But for Sucy, the new year began in darkness: eyes shut to fully immerse herself in the lips of another. She felt Akko's arms wrap around her neck, the brunette taking in a deep breath of the chilly night air. In response, her hand took hold of Akko's neck, giving the alchemist leverage to intensify the kiss.

It was a deeper kiss than their first two; longer and full of fire. They may not have been looking up at the sky, but the two did indeed see fireworks.

Eventually they broke apart, foreheads pressed together and breathing heavily. Two pairs of red eyes met, two smiles exchanged.

"Happy birthday Sucy."

"Ah, but it's not my birthday anymore is it?" The witch teased, baiting a flustered response, her smile turning into an impish grin. "You missed it."

But instead of a red face and puffed cheeks, all she got in return was a hug, a soft and sweet embrace filled with love.

All things considered, she liked that outcome better.

* * *

 _ **A/N: ONE KISS AH AH AH. TWO KISS AH AH AH. THREE KISS AH AH AH.**_

 ** _Happy New Year Nerds._**

 _ **So there's gonna be a scheduling change with Day After Day and Rose in Winter in the new year. I also may just end Day After Day here and start up a separate oneshot collection. Tell me in reviews what you would prefer.**_

 _ **The scheduling change is as follows:**_

 _ **Day After Day (or whatever I call the oneshot thingy) will be on Monday's**_

 _ **Rose in Winter will continue to be on a 'When it's Ready (tm)' schedule but I'm aiming for Friday's**_

 ** _There's just gonna be a lot on my plate in the first few months of the year and it will be difficult keeping up the bi-weekly updates._**

 ** _Until next Monday friends!_**


	33. Redirection

**_Hey there! This is just a little heads up and redirection for those who are following this story specifically and not me. I have decided to start up a one-shot collection to replace this story. It is up right now and you can easily find it in my list of published stories._**

 ** _Hope to see you there! - Kap_**


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